Share class

Some companies have more than one kind of share. The kinds, or classes, can have different voting rights, for example shares that give you part of the profits but no vote.

Founders often keep shares with extra votes, so they stay in control even after selling a lot of stock. Non-voting shares let a company raise money without giving up any control.

Also called: share classes, non-voting shares, nonvoting shares, non-voting stock, Class A shares, Class B shares, Class C shares.

Related terms

  • Dilution: When a company creates and sells new shares, each existing share owns a smaller slice of the company. That shrinking of everyone's slice is called dilution.

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