Organizational Forms, Corporate Issuer Features, and Ownership

How businesses are legally organised (sole proprietorships, general, limited and limited liability partnerships, private and public limited companies) and how the forms differ on legal identity, owner-manager relations, liability, taxation and access to financing; the key features of corporate issuers, including double taxation; and how publicly and privately owned issuers differ, how companies go public or private, and who owns corporations.

1. 1. Sole proprietorships and partnershipsThe legal form of a business decides who carries its risks, who runs it, how its profits are taxed and how much money it can raise; sole proprietorships and partnerships are simple but leave owners personally exposed and limit growth.Free13 min
2. 2. Limited companies and comparing all the formsLimited companies give every owner limited liability, split ownership into tradable shares and separate owners from managers; the public limited company (corporation) has no limits on owners, which makes it the best vehicle for raising capital, at the price of possible double taxation.14 min
3. 3. Key features of corporate issuersA corporation is its own legal person, owned by shareholders with limited liability who delegate running it to a board and managers; that separation is what lets it raise equity and debt from a vast pool of investors.13 min
4. 4. Corporate taxation and double taxationCorporate profit is usually taxed once at the company and again when it is paid out as dividends, but retained profit escapes the second layer, which is why the corporate form still suits businesses that reinvest.12 min
5. 5. Publicly versus privately owned corporate issuersA public (listed) issuer has shares that trade on an exchange, giving liquidity, visible prices and easy access to new capital in exchange for heavy disclosure; a private issuer trades that liquidity for control, fewer stakeholders and lower costs.13 min
6. 6. Going public, going private and who owns corporationsPrivate companies go public through an IPO, a direct listing or an acquisition (including by a SPAC); public companies go private when investors buy out all the shares, often with debt; and corporations may be owned by individuals, institutions, other companies, governments and non-profits.14 min