The First Multinational Corporation

By Leo Gura - June 22, 2024

The first publicly-traded multinational corporation in the world was the Dutch East India Company. They created a monopoly for themselves on clove and nutmeg spices which they sailed to procure from islands in Indonesia. By 1669 this company was so successful and powerful that the Dutch government gave it the right to make treaties and engage in war on behalf of the Dutch. This company was like a floating state, with 150 merchant ships, 40 warships, 50,000 employees, a private army of 10,000 soldiers, colonies from South America to South Africa to Iran to India, and an annual dividend payment of 40%. It was the richest company the world had ever seen.

To secure their monopoly on spice, the Dutch East India Company fought wars against the Spanish, English, and Portuguese navies. The Dutch established the world’s first stock market to sell shares of the Dutch East India Company and small companies like it in order to help fund risky trade expeditions around the world. The Dutch also started the biggest international bank. The Dutch East India Company paid an annual dividend of 18% for 200 years! This made the Dutch the richest country in Europe at the time. This was one of the first modern experiments in capitalism which resulted in massive material success.

Free trade, entrepreneurship, and massive wealth accumulation from merchant activities had existed since the dawn of civilization. But what is called capitalism only arose with the Dutch, when they invented the multinational publicly traded corporation and international banking.

I’m studying the history of capitalism and socialism. Pretty neat, huh?

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