What Is a Shareholder?
A shareholder is anyone who owns at least one share of a company. Owning one share of Apple makes you an Apple shareholder, with the same basic rights as a big fund.
What rights do shareholders have?
- A share of the profit, through dividends or a rising share price.
- A vote at the yearly meeting, for example on who sits on the board.
- Access to the company's yearly and quarterly reports.
How shareholders make money
In two ways: the share price goes up, or the company pays out cash. Companies can also do a stock buyback, which leaves each remaining shareholder owning a bigger slice.
Shareholder vs stakeholder
Shareholders own the company. Stakeholders are everyone affected by it: staff, customers, suppliers and the local community. Good companies care about both.
Do shareholders own the company's stuff?
Not directly. You cannot walk into an Apple Store and take a phone. You own a slice of the company, and the company owns the stores and phones.
See it in real companies
Open a company to see what it sells and how it makes money.