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Golden share

A special state right to take part in governing a company: not a security, but powers vested in a government representative.

How to read the number

It allows particular decisions to be blocked — reorganisation, major transactions, amendments to the articles — regardless of any stake in the capital.

When the metric lies

It is invisible in an ownership table: it occupies no share of capital and claims no profit, yet it changes the arithmetic on the decisions that matter most.

Also known as: golden share

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