A business structure in which the defining feature is legal independence from the people who create it. Corporations exist as a product of corporate law, and their rules balance the interests of the management who operate the corporation; creditors who loan it goods, services, or money; shareholders that invest their capital and the employees who contribute their labor.
Generally, a large profit-making business or industrial enterprise owned by stockholders and governed by a board of directors.
A legal entity which exists separately, for all legal purposes, from the people or organizations which own it. To take advantage of legal advantages (limitation of liability and tax benefits, for example), a corporation must observe certain “formalities” required by law, such as meetings, minutes, and filing of annual reports and tax returns.
An ownership structure controlled by one or more stockholders.