Joint-stock companies and the world's first stock exchange
- Date
- 1600–1611 (VOC chartered 20 March 1602; exchange opened 1611)
- Category
- Economy & trade
- Region
- Dutch Republic and England
- Era
- Early Modern
- Significance
Between 1600 and 1611 the institutional core of modern finance took shape in northwestern Europe.
England's East India Company was chartered by Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600, and the Dutch East India Company (VOC) was created by the States General on 20 March 1602 with a permanent, transferable, publicly subscribed capital, the first true joint-stock corporation open to ordinary investors. To trade VOC shares a regular secondary market emerged in Amsterdam, and a purpose-built commodity-and-securities exchange designed by Hendrick de Keyser opened on Dam Square in 1611, generally regarded as the world's first stock exchange. Here continuous share trading, brokerage, short-selling, forward contracts and the earliest derivatives developed. These innovations let merchants pool capital and spread risk across long, dangerous voyages, financing armed trading empires in Asia and channelling savings into commerce. The joint-stock company and organised exchange were central to the Commercial Revolution, creating the templates for corporations, capital markets and speculative finance that still structure the global economy.
One piece of history in your inbox, weekly
New empires, events and features as they land — one good email a week. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Empires active in 1600–1611 (VOC chartered 20 March 1602; exchange opened 1611)
- Ottoman Empire1299 CE – 1922 CE
- Solomonic dynasty1270 CE – 1974 CE
- Mughal Empire1526 CE – 1857 CE
- Ming Dynasty1368 CE – 1644 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
Related economy & trade events
- Founding of the English and Dutch East India Companies1600–1602
- Founding of the Bank of England27 July 1694
- Founding of the Bank of Amsterdam (Wisselbank)31 January 1609
- The Manila galleon opens trans-Pacific trade1565
- Discovery of the silver of Potosí (Cerro Rico)1545
- Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations9 March 1776
Further reading
The wider story
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
Best-selling world history told through the trade routes that moved goods, faiths and ideas.
Get it on Amazon →As an Amazon Associate, Human Saga earns from qualifying purchases.