Who typically owns a corporation?

A corporation is fundamentally owned by its shareholders, who hold shares of the company's stock. When individuals or institutions purchase these shares, they acquire partial ownership of the corporation and a claim on its assets and earnings. This ownership is central to the structure of corporations, as it allows shareholders to vote on important matters such as electing the board of directors and making major corporate decisions.

The corporation operates independently of its owners, which means that the shareholders typically do not manage the day-to-day operations of the company; that responsibility falls to the management team hired by the board of directors. While the board oversees the corporation on behalf of the shareholders and makes key decisions, it is ultimately the shareholders who are the true owners, as their investment gives them rights to vote and receive dividends.

Government regulators play a separate role in overseeing corporations to ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements but do not have ownership stakes in the companies they regulate. Managers, on the other hand, are employed by the corporation to implement strategies and manage operations but do not possess ownership in the same sense as shareholders. Thus, the correct understanding of ownership in a corporation lies fundamentally with the shareholders.