Legal Definitions - minority shareholder

A minority shareholder is someone who owns less than half of the total shares of a company. This means that they do not have the power to control the management of the company or elect directors on their own.

For example, if a company has 100 shares and one person owns 51 shares, they are the majority shareholder and have control over the company. However, if another person owns only 49 shares, they are a minority shareholder and do not have control over the company.

Minority shareholders may still have some rights, such as the right to vote on certain matters or receive dividends. However, they do not have the same level of influence as majority shareholders.