What is Joint-stock company?
A '''joint-stock company''' is a [[business]] owned by people called [[shareholder]]s. Each shareholder owns [[company]] stock in proportion to the number of their [[Share (finance)|shares]] (certificates of ownership).<ref>{{cite book |title=The law of private companies, 2nd ed. |last1=Courtney, Thomas B. |year=2002 |isbn=1-85475-265-0 |page=26|publisher=Butterworths }}</ref> Some shareholders may own a larger proportion of a company's share than others. Shareholders are able to transfer their shares to others without any effects on the continued existence of the company.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Joint Stock Company|url=http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Joint+Stock+Company|encyclopedia=West's Encyclopedia of American Law|access-date=4 May 2012}}</ref> [[Incorporation]], a [[legal]] process, gives a company a [[legal personality]] separate from shareholders, and limited liability. This means the shareholders are only liable for the company's [[debt]]s to the value of the money they invested in the company. So, joint-stock companies are commonly known as [[corporation]]s or [[limited company|limited companies]]. == History == [[Image:India 1835 2 Mohurs.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Gold double [[mohur]], 30 [[rupee]]s]] Finding the earliest joint-stock company is a matter of definition. Around 1250 in [[France]] at [[Toulouse]], 96 shares of the ''Société des Moulins du Bazacle'' (Bazacle Milling Company) were traded at a value that depended on the profitability of the Society's mills. This was probably the first company of its kind in history.<ref>[https://www.euronext.com/listings/nyse-paris History of Paris stock exchanges]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://sebastienpouget.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ShareholderLawsuit.pdf |title=Shareholder lawsuit |access-date=2015-09-14 |archive-date=2015-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321191720/http://sebastienpouget.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ShareholderLawsuit.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The much more famous, wealthy and powerfu