What is a Corporation?

A corporation is an organization owned by its stockholders – individuals or other organizations who contribute capital to the corporation in return for shares (partial ownership) in the corporation. In most cases, purchasers of stock in business corporations are primarily interested in its short or long term investment value. That is, they are looking to sell their stocks at a profit or to keep their stocks in hope that their value will increase over a period of time. Few are interested in controlling the corporation’s operations. The directors, the officers, and other managers of the corporation remain responsible to the shareholders.