Privately Held Company

Corporations whose shares are owned by private individuals or companies. Their shares trade on the major Stock Exchanges, giving them great liquidity. See also Public Corporations.

Firm owned by a few people. It is distinguished from a Publicly Held Company, which is also a private company, but whose shares are traded in the public market; also called a closed corporation or private corporation. A publicly held company can either be closely held (meaning most of the public shares are owned or controlled by a few people) or widely held, as with a company whose shares are listed on a national stock exchange.