Age of Exploration: Maritime

Age of Exploration

Maritime Empires

Where did sunken treasures originate?

Joint STock Companies

A joint-stock company was a business structure that allowed multiple investors to pool resources to fund large-scale projects. Joint-stock companies were a forerunner to modern corporations and were created by royal charters.

Ownership - A joint-stock company is owned by multiple people, each with a share of the company based on their investment.Risk Shareholders are only responsible for the amount of their initial investment, and are not liable for the company's actions.Profit sharing - Investors share in the company's profits.Purpose - Joint-stock companies were created to finance projects that were too expensive for individuals or governments to fund.Examples The Virginia Company, the Dutch East India Company, and the English East India Company were all joint-stock companies. Joint-stock companies made high-risk, high-profit ventures more common. They also helped to minimize individual losses, and eventually led to the emergence of stock markets.

4:51 min