Joint-stock company
The type of company most often referred to by the word "corporation" is a publicly traded corporation. In this type of company the shares are traded on a public stock exchange. For example, shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq in the United States. This is where shares of stock of corporations are bought and sold by and to the general public. Most of the largest businesses in the world are publicly traded corporations. However, the majority of corporations are said to be closely held, privately held or close corporations. This means that no ready market exists for the trading of shares. Many such corporations are owned and managed by a small group of businesspeople or companies. They can also be as vast as the largest public corporations.