Shareholders are individuals, MUTUAL FUNDS, and other groups who collectively own a CORPORATION. The concept of shareholders and joint-stock corporations evolved in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. In the United States, WALL STREET in New York City became the center of stock trading during the early 1800s. Shareholders, also called stockholders, typically are entitled to a share of the corporation’s ASSETS in proportion to the number of shares they hold compared to the number of shares issued by the company. (For decades, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T;) was the mostly widely held corporation in America.) In addition to owning part of the assets of a company, shareholders hold voting rights equal to the number of shares they own, are entitled to DIVIDENDS when declared by the BOARD OF DIRECTORS, and have first rights to purchase additional shares when the corporation authorizes additional stock offerings. There are two types of shareholders, holders of COMMON STOCK and holders of preferred stock (called ordinary and preference shares respectively in Britain). The rights described above apply to shareholders of common stock. Shareholders of preferred stock typically do not have voting rights, are paid a fixed dividend, and have claims against the assets ahead of common-stock shareholders. Preferred stock is similar to a corporate bond, with a fixed payment rate but, unlike BONDS, preferred shares typically do not have a set maturity date. Preferred stock can be either cumulative or noncumulative. Cumulative shares must be paid any passed dividends before dividends can be paid to common-stock shareholders. Most preferred stock in the United States is cumulative stock. For example, in the 1980s, when Chrysler Corporation (now Chrysler- Daimler) returned to profitability after a government bailout (similar to the airline industry bailout after September 11, 2001), investors holding preferred shares received all back payments owed before the company resumed dividends to common-stock shareholders. The board of directors determines dividends and announces the amount of the dividend, the date the dividend will be paid to shareholders, and the ex-dividend date. Ex-dividend dates are typically about two weeks before the dividend payment date, allowing the corporation time to issue the dividend to the shareholder of record on that date. STOCK MARKET reporting services indicate with an “x” shares that have gone ex-dividend that day. Dividend payments are taxable as personal INCOME under U.S. tax laws. Critics argue this amounts to double taxation, because corporations pay corporate taxes on PROFITS earned before distribution of dividends. While shareholders own a corporation, managers direct the day-to-day affairs of the company, and the board of directors represents shareholders in guiding overall corporate strategy. Shareholders’ LIABILITY is limited to their INVESTMENT in the company. Shareholder ownership interest in a corporation is usually freely transferable to other investors. After an INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING, inside investors are usually restricted from selling their shares for a specified period of time. During the DOT-COMS frenzy of the late 1990s and early 2000, many dot-com employees with STOCK OPTIONS and preauthorized shares saw the value of their assets drop from millions to nothing before the holding period expired and they were allowed to sell their shares. Unlike shareholders in a corporation, owners of shares of a PARTNERSHIP typically cannot freely transfer their ownership to others. Unless specified in the partnership agreement, transfer of partnership shares entitle the recipient to the financial benefits attached to those shares but do not make the recipient a partner in the enterprise.