"duty-free concessions, and the prospect of real subsidies as well, the Court and Directors of the South Sea Company decided that they could not expect to make profits from Arctic whaling. They sent out no more whale-ships after the loss-making 1732 season. The company continued its trade (when not interrupted by war) until the end of the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). However, its main function was always managing government debt, rather than trading with the Spanish colonies. The South Sea Company continued its management of the part of the National Debt until it was disestablished in 1853, at which point"
"few decades. At the center of it were the South Sea Company, set up in 1711 to conduct English trade with South America, and the Mississippi Company, focused on commerce with France's Louisiana colony and touted by transplanted Scottish financier John Law, who was acting in effect as France's central banker. Investors snapped up shares in both, and whatever else was available. In 1720, at the height of the mania, there was even an offering of ""a company for carrying out an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is"". By the end of that same year,"
"company promoters bought thousands of shares. By 1717, the South Sea Company was so wealthy (still having done no real business) that it assumed the public debt of the British government. This accelerated the inflation of the share price further, as did the Bubble Act 1720, which (possibly with the motive of protecting the South Sea Company from competition) prohibited the establishment of any companies without a Royal Charter. The share price rose so rapidly that people began buying shares merely in order to sell them at a higher price, which in turn led to higher share prices. This was"
"of their business around the globe. The South Sea Bubble was a business enterprise that exploded in scandal. The South Sea Company was a joint-stock company in London. Its ostensible object was to grant trade monopolies in South America; but its actual purpose was to renegotiate previous high-interest government loans amounting to £31 million through market manipulation and speculation. It raised money four times in 1720 by issuing stock, which was purchased by about 8,000 investors. The share price kept soaring every day, from £130 a share to £1,000, with insiders making huge paper profits. The Bubble collapsed overnight, ruining"
"in 1760 and ₤43.2 million in 1800. There was one major fiasco that caused heavy losses. The South Sea Bubble was a business enterprise that exploded in scandal. The South Sea Company was a private business corporation supposedly set up much like the other trading companies, with a focus on South America. Its actual purpose was to renegotiate previous high-interest government loans amounting to ₤31 million through market manipulation and speculation. It issued stock four times in 1720 that reached about 8,000 investors. Prices kept soaring every day, from ₤130 a share to ₤1,000, with insiders making huge paper profits."
"by company promoters' extravagant promises of profit, bought thousands of shares. By 1717, the South Sea Company was so wealthy (still having done no real business) that it assumed the public debt of the UK government. This accelerated the inflation of the share price further, as did the Royal Exchange and London Assurance Corporation Act 1719, which (possibly with the motive of protecting the South Sea Company from competition) prohibited the establishment of any companies without a Royal Charter. The share price rose so rapidly that people began buying shares merely in order to sell them at a higher price."
"in 1722, but it is not known how much he lost, if anything. The South Sea Company was created in 1711 to reduce the size of public debts, but was granted the commercial privilege of exclusive rights of trade to the Spanish Indies, based on the treaty of commerce signed by Britain and the Archduke Charles, candidate to the Spanish throne during the War of the Spanish Succession. After Philip V became the King of Spain, Britain obtained at the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht the rights to the slave trade to the Spanish Indies (or Asiento) for 30 years. Those"
"billion livres at 3% to pay off the national debt, a transaction funded by issuing a further 300,000 shares in the company. Between May and December 1719 the market price of a share rose from 500 to 10,000 livres and continued rising into early 1720, supported by Law's 4% dividend promise. Under rapidly emerging price inflation, Law sought to hold the share price at 9,000 livres in March 1720, and then on 21 May 1720 to engineer a controlled reduction in the value of both notes and the shares, a measure that was itself reversed 6 days later. As the"
"second in 1717–1722 raised £1.6 million. A similar chartered company, the South Sea Company, was established in 1711 to trade in the Spanish South American colonies, but met with less success. The South Sea Company's monopoly rights were supposedly backed by the Treaty of Utrecht, signed in 1713 as a settlement following the War of the Spanish Succession, which gave Great Britain an ""asiento"" to trade in the region for thirty years. In fact the Spanish remained hostile and let only one ship a year enter. Unaware of the problems, investors in Britain, enticed by extravagant promises of profit from"
"from about £100 to almost £1000 per share. Its success caused a country-wide frenzy—herd behavior—as all types of people, from peasants to lords, developed a feverish interest in investing: in South Seas primarily, but in stocks generally. Among the many companies to go public in 1720 is—famously—one that advertised itself as ""a company for carrying out an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is"". The price finally reached £1,000 in early August, and the level of selling was such that the price started to fall, dropping back to £100 per share before the year was out."
"founded. This Company’s focus was primarily on trade with Latin America and Africa. The Dutch were prospering like never before from their newfound commerce and enterprise. The 17th Century was a time that the Dutch had experienced what was the highest standard of living in all of Europe. Their overseas trade within their two companies had afforded them to become the largest naval fleet in the world. This fleet was the means for the Dutch to patrol and dominate long-term trade routes. The fleet also allowed their colonial provisions and power to grow even further. Despite potential setbacks that fighting"
"to public subscription in August 1781 to raise, nominally, half its capital in one thousand shares. In fact, the Company was seriously under-capitalized, as the other thousand shares held by the Proli group and Bolts were paid for by the nominal value of the assets of the former association. Bolts' valuation of those assets was accepted at face value, but it was a fictitious valuation and in fact the new Company inherited the old association's debts. It consequently suffered chronic lack of cash and had to resort to short-term loans and bottomry bonds (for which the ships themselves were the"
"were created in India, but there was one major fiasco that caused heavy losses. The South Sea Bubble was a business enterprise that exploded in scandal. The South Sea Company was a private business corporation supposedly set up much like the other trading companies, with a focus on South America. Its actual purpose was to renegotiate previous high-interest government loans amounting to ₤31 million through market manipulation and speculation. It issued stock four times in 1720 that reached about 8,000 investors. Prices kept soaring every day, from ₤130 a share to ₤1,000, with insiders making huge paper profits. The Bubble"
"the company commercially profitable, but until 1924 it was deeply unprofitable because its administrative costs outweighed its commercial income, and it never paid a dividend in that period. After a financial crisis in Britain in 1908, the value of its shares declined sharply: its share capital had to be increased from £6 million to £12 million between 1908 and 1912, and it needed large loans to stay in business. From around 1920, the company favoured a union of Southern and Northern Rhodesia, followed by their inclusion in the Union of South Africa, and it was in discussion with South African"
"in 1760 and £43.2 million in 1800. Other powers set up similar monopolies on a much smaller scale; only the Netherlands emphasized trade as much as England. Most of the companies earned good profits, and enormous personal fortunes were created in India. However, there was one major fiasco that caused heavy losses. The South Sea Bubble was a business enterprise that exploded in scandal. The South Sea Company was a private business corporation supposedly set up much like the other trading companies, with a focus on South America. Its actual purpose was to renegotiate previous high-interest government loans amounting to"
"trading on 16 February 1734, and was wound up on 16 February 1737. Although officially disbanded, the shareholders secretly maintained the company as a vehicle for pooling investment until 1774. Many of the company's investors also became involved in the Swedish East India Company. In the 1770s Austria re-established a colonial trading company, based on the model of the Ostend Company, to take advantage of the ongoing war between Britain, France and the Dutch Republic to take over a share of these countries' trade with India and China. This was the ""Société impériale asiatique de Trieste et Anvers,"" or ""Société"
"was to prove very profitable, thanks to the fall of Amsterdam and the rise of London as centre of shipping trade, thanks to the French wartime bans on shipping in Amsterdam. Partnership capital peaked at £400,000 in 1804. Baring contributed the major share, providing 12% in 1777, 40% in 1790, and 54% in 1804. Annual profits rose to £40,000 in the 1790s and peaked, atypically, at over £200,000 in 1802; they were calculated after payment to partners at 4% interest, sometimes 5%, on their capital. Baring's share of the profits increased steadily from a quarter in the mid-1760s to a"
"primarily China and Russia, processing it for the European market. From 1917 the company started exporting to the United States, and from the 1920s to the United Kingdom, Germany, China and Japan. It was introduced on the stock exchange in 1928. During the interwar period, subsidiaries was started in Sweden, United Kingdom and the Netherlands to support the growing European sales operations. After a production decrease during the Second World War, production increased again from 1945, establishing production and trading companies in Malaya, Canada and Japan. In the 1970s the company faced new challenges as its debt rose from approximately"
"This triggered bankruptcies amongst those who had bought on credit, and increased selling, even short selling (i.e., selling borrowed shares in the hope of buying them back at a profit if the price fell). Also, in August 1720, the first of the installment payments of the first and second money subscriptions on new issues of South Sea stock were due. Earlier in the year John Blunt had come up with an idea to prop up the share price: the company would lend people money to buy its shares. As a result, many shareholders could not pay for their shares except"
"control trade routes on the high seas. A similar chartered company, the South Sea Company, was established in 1711 to trade in the Spanish South American colonies, but met with less success. The South Sea Company's monopoly rights were supposedly backed by the Treaty of Utrecht, signed in 1713 as a settlement following the War of Spanish Succession, which gave the United Kingdom an ""assiento"" to trade, and to sell slaves in the region for thirty years. In fact the Spanish remained hostile and let only one ship a year enter. Unaware of the problems, investors in the UK, enticed"
"of the earliest and most important of national mercantile companies based on entrepreneurship and trade. During the eighteenth century, the power, wealth and influence of the Netherlands declined. A series of wars with the more powerful British and French neighbours weakened it. The UK seized the North American colony of New Amsterdam, and renamed it ""New York"". There was growing unrest and conflict between the Orangists and the Patriots. The French Revolution spilled over after 1789, and a pro-French Batavian Republic was established in 1795–1806. Napoleon made it a satellite state, the Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810), and later simply a"
"South Sea Company, although originally set up to trade with the Spanish Empire, quickly turned most of its attention to very high risk financing, involving £30 million or 60% of the entire British national debt. It set up a scheme that invited stock owners to turn in their certificates for stock in the Company at a par value of £100—the idea was they would profit by the rising price of the stock. Everyone with connections wanted in on the bonanza—and many other outlandish schemes found gullible takers. South Sea stock peaked at £1060 on 25 June 1720. Then the bubble"
"at 30 million livres. The King agreed to pay all of the Company's debts and obligations, though holders of Company stock and notes received only an estimated 15 percent of the face value of their investments by the end of corporate liquidation in 1790. The company was reconstituted in 1785 and issued 40,000 shares of stock priced at 1,000 livres apiece. It was given monopoly on all trade with countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope for an agreed period of seven years. The agreement, however, did not anticipate the French Revolution, and on 3 April 1790 the monopoly was"
"""profit"" the increase in market price. This method, while winning over the heads of government, the King's mistress, et al., also had the advantage of binding their interests to the interests of the Company: in order to secure their own profits, they had to help drive up the stock. Meanwhile, by publicising the names of their elite stockholders, the Company managed to clothe itself in an aura of legitimacy, which attracted and kept other buyers. The South Sea Company was by no means the only company seeking to raise money from investors in 1720. A large number of other joint-stock"
"promoted by powerful Amsterdam merchants, the Counter-remonstrants or extreme Calvinists and Maurice, Prince of Orange. Their investment was part of their political stance, as the Company was involved in an offensive against Catholic Spain and Portugal. However, after a huge 75% dividend for the year 1629–30, it yielded little or no income: its defence costs far outstripped its receipts from the Atlantic slave trade and the sugar and dyewood produced by plantation slavery. Simon Schama has described the tensions between Dutch wealth and Calvinist austerity as an ""embarrassment of riches"" Foreigners generally had a stereotype of the Dutch as especially"
"drove up their price till they reached 1200 percent in the 1720s. Remarkably, the VOC did not raise new capital by issuing new shares, but it relied on borrowing and retained profits for the financing of its expansion. This is remarkable, because previous ventures on the contrary did not borrow, but used additional subscriptions if they needed extra capital The real innovation, therefore, was that next to physical commodities henceforth financial rights in the ownership of a company were traded on the Amsterdam exchange. The stock market had come into being. Soon other innovations in financial trading were to follow."
"been formed in 1899 by the merger of two large American corporations. The new company had major holdings of land and railroads across Central America, which it used to support its business of exporting bananas. In 1900 it was already the world's largest exporter of bananas. By 1930 it had an operating capital of 215 million US dollars, and had been the largest landowner and employer in Guatemala for several years. Under Manuel Estrada Cabrera and other Guatemalan presidents, the company obtained a series of concessions in the country that allowed it to massively expand its business. These concessions frequently"
"attempt to bring new impetus to trade with the Dutch East Indies after the depression of the years of French domination (1795–1814) and the final collapse of the Dutch East India Company two decades earlier. The NHM financing of trade and shipping led to the development of a network of branches which increasingly engaged in financing and banking operations. The network extended throughout South East Asia and on the trade routes between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies and the NHM continued to extend its network into the 20th century. It lost a number of its branches when the"
"gold. He also persuaded wealthy Parisians to invest in the Mississippi Company, a scheme for the colonization of French territory of Louisiana. The stock of the company first soared and then collapsed in 1720, taking the bank with it. Law fled France, and wealthy Parisians became reluctant make further investments or to trust any currency but gold. In 1719, France, in alliance with Britain and the Dutch Republic, declared war on Spain. Spain was defeated on both land and sea, and quickly sought peace. A French-Spanish treaty was signed on 27 March 1721. The two governments proposed to unite their"
"the ability of joint-stock companies to attract capital from investors, as they could now easily dispose their shares. In 1612, it became the first 'corporation' in intercontinental trade with 'locked in' capital and limited liability. During the period of colonialism, Europeans, initially the British, trading with the Near East for goods, pepper and calico for example, enjoyed spreading the risk of trade over multiple sea voyages. The joint-stock company became a more viable financial structure than previous guilds or state-regulated companies. The first joint-stock companies to be implemented in the Americas were The London Company and The Plymouth Company. Transferable"
"the private banks through monetary policy. It was originally established as a corporation with private shareholders under the Bank of England Act 1694, to raise money for war with Louis XIV, King of France. After the South Sea Company collapsed in a speculative bubble in 1720, the Bank of England became the dominant financial institution, and acted as a banker to the UK government and other private banks. This meant, simply by being the biggest financial institution, it could influence interest rates that other banks charged to businesses and consumers by altering its interest rate for the banks' bank accounts."
"in 1718 Law, Cantillon, and wealthy speculator Joseph Gage formed a private company centred on financing further speculation in North American real estate. In 1719, Cantillon left Paris for Amsterdam, returning briefly in early 1720. Lending in Paris, Cantillon had outlying debt repaid to him in London and Amsterdam. With the collapse of the ""Mississippi bubble"", Cantillon was able to collect on debt accruing high rates of interest. Most of his debtors had suffered financial damage in the bubble collapse and blamed Cantillon—until his death, Cantillon was involved in countless lawsuits filed by his debtors, leading to a number of"
"mercantile companies based on entrepreneurship and trade. During the 18th century the power and wealth of the Netherlands declined. A series of wars with the more powerful British and French neighbors weakened it. Britain seized the North American colony of New Amsterdam, turning it into New York. There was growing unrest and conflict between the Orangists and the Patriots. The French Revolution spilled over after 1789, and a pro-French Batavian Republic was established in 1795–1806. Napoleon made it a satellite state, the Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810), and later simply a French imperial province. In 1815–1940 it was neutral and played"