The world’s first multinational company was also the first to be listed on a stock exchange. Of course, there’s a bit of a twist here, since the first modern stock exchange — that is, one with a public market for bonds and shares — was actually founded by…yes, that very company.

Not only that, but for 200 years, it provided its shareholders with generous dividends, and when it eventually went bankrupt, it was nationalized. Almost 100 years later, an Australian company acquired its name and brand. But let’s start at the beginning.

On March 20, 1602, the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) was established in Amsterdam, which we would know in English as the Dutch East India Company. The government of the Netherlands, promoter and supporter of the company, aimed to counter British trade advances in Asia by granting the VOC a monopoly on that trade for an initial period of 21 years, even giving it the power to maintain armies, declare war, mint currency, establish colonies, or sign treaties.

At first, the company’s headquarters were set up in Ambon, but in 1619, with a fleet of 19 ships, they attacked Jayakarta, wresting control of the city from the Sultanate of Banten and establishing it as their permanent operational capital. They immediately changed the city’s name to Batavia (today’s Jakarta).

VOC Amsterdam
The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, painting by Philips Vingboons (1634). Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

For years, Dutch ships traded from there with Japan, China, and India: silk, cotton, porcelain, textiles, and spices turned the company into a multinational giant, gradually gaining territories and conquering the Portuguese-held Malabar coast, establishing colonies like the Cape Colony, which later led to the Afrikaner ethnic group.

By 1669, the Dutch East India Company was the wealthiest private company in history. It operated more than 150 merchant ships, protected by a fleet of 40 warships, and employed over 50,000 people.

How was the company able to finance such massive economic ventures? Quite simply. As soon as it was established in 1602, the company began issuing bonds and shares to raise the necessary funds for its trade voyages. To publicly offer its bonds, it created the Amsterdam stock exchange on Damrak Street, where anyone could buy shares in the company, much as we now buy and sell shares of Apple and many others.

VOC Amsterdam
Flag and logo of the Dutch East India Company. Credit: Martinvl / Wikimedia Commons

Those who acquired these shares were well compensated for their investment, as the company paid an annual dividend of more than 16 percent, continuing even after 1730, when the business began to decline.

When, weighed down by debt, it was nationalized on March 1, 1796, it still owned the island of Java, much of Sumatra, the Moluccas, and several ports on the Malacca Peninsula. All these territories became Dutch colonies, forming the Dutch East Indies.

In addition to being the world’s first publicly traded company, the Dutch East India Company was also a pioneer in adopting a corporate image. At a time when this concept was virtually unknown, the company had a professionally designed logo and a flag (whose colors match the current Dutch flag).

The logo, featuring a large “V” with an “O” on the left and a “C” on the right, appeared on most of the company’s assets, such as ships, cannons, and even the currency it minted. Today, it’s still recognizable on Voyager Estate wine bottles, an Australian company that acquired the brand in 1995.


This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on October 22, 2018: La primera empresa de la historia en cotizar en una bolsa de valores


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