Why is the VOC called the first multinational?

It operated across continents under a single charter, issued transferable shares to the public, and held sovereign powers to wage war and sign treaties.

Did it create the stock market?

It created the first market in continuously traded shares, on the Amsterdam exchange, which is the direct ancestor of modern stock trading.

What does the timestamp mean?

The charter is dated 20 March 1602; no hour survives, so the page shows a midday UTC marker.

March 20, 1602

1602-03-20 12:00 UTC

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The first multinational corporation is chartered

The Dutch East India Company receives a twenty-one-year monopoly and issues the first publicly traded shares.

Source ↗

What happened in this minute

The States General granted the VOC a monopoly on Dutch trade east of the Cape of Good Hope, together with the power to wage war, sign treaties and establish colonies.

Its financing was the innovation: shares that any resident could buy and then resell on the Amsterdam exchange, separating ownership from management and creating the first liquid capital market.

The same charter authorised violence as a business method, and the company's record in the Banda Islands and Java is inseparable from its financial history.

Questions and answers

Why is the VOC called the first multinational?: It operated across continents under a single charter, issued transferable shares to the public, and held sovereign powers to wage war and sign treaties.
Did it create the stock market?: It created the first market in continuously traded shares, on the Amsterdam exchange, which is the direct ancestor of modern stock trading.
What does the timestamp mean?: The charter is dated 20 March 1602; no hour survives, so the page shows a midday UTC marker.