How corporate control is achieved

Legal control over a company’s capital and decisions can be achieved through several means.

1. Being the sole shareholder.

2. Holding or acquiring 50 per cent plus one share.

3. Being the top shareholder.

Most listed banks are controlled by investors holding 25 per cent or less, with the rest of the shareholding highly fragmented.

4. Shareholders ceding their legal control to one of their peers despite that party not having majority of the shares.

5. Having super-voting shares.

A company can have different classes of shares, with some having more voting power and whose holders can control a company.

An example is Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg who controls the technology firm through his holding of special shares with 10 times normal voting rights.