Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: majority interest/ownership

A person who holds a majority interest in a company usually holds greater than 50% of the voting stock.

Re: majority interest/ownership

"Majority ownership" means ownership of a majority (more than 50%) of the shares of a corporation, and also may be applied to ownership of more that 50% of the beneficial interest in other property, such as real estate.

"Majority interest" has only a tiny difference in meaning. It refers to the same thing, but is more specifically directed to the details of the holding through which majority ownership is claimed. The terms are probably appropriately interchangeable 95% of the time. A good financial editor at The Wall Street Journal or a seasoned securities lawyer will instinctively know when one term, or the other, is more apt.

If you have a particular situation in mind, please feel free to contact me directly. Otherwise, Black's Law Dictionary is a respected source of technical definitions of legal terms. I didn't look at Black's in preparing this answer (maybe I should have, but it's in another building some distance from me). You can find Black's Law Dictionary in most well-stocked reference libraries and all county law libraries.