Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Owned by a relatively few shareholders: Describes a corporation or company whose shares are not publicly traded on a stock exchange and are instead held by a small number of individuals, often including founders, family members, or a small group of investors.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The business remained a closely-held family company for three generations.
  • As a closely-held corporation, it is not required to disclose its financials to the public.
  • The decision-making process is often faster in a closely-held firm.

Advanced Usage

• "closely-held company": A common collocation specifically referring to a private company with a limited number of shareholders.

  • He invested in a closely-held company specializing in medical technology.

• "closely-held shares": Refers to the stock or ownership units themselves that are not widely available.

  • The closely-held shares were transferred to a trust.

Variants and Related Words

• Privately-held (adj): Often used synonymously with "closely-held" to describe a company not listed on a public exchange.

  • The privately-held enterprise was valued at over a billion dollars.

• Publicly-traded (adj): The antonym, describing a company whose shares are sold to the general public on a stock exchange.

  • After the IPO, the firm transitioned from being closely-held to publicly-traded.

Synonyms

• Private company: A company whose ownership is private.
• Closed corporation: A corporation with a small number of shareholders and restrictions on share transfer.

Related Phrases

• To be held closely: A less common phrasal form emphasizing the state of ownership.
  • The stock is held closely by the founding partners.

Related Idioms

• To keep something close to the vest/chest: While not directly synonymous, this idiom about secrecy can relate to the private, controlled nature of closely-held businesses.
  • The owners keep their plans close to the vest, as is typical for a closely-held business.

Adjective

1. owned by a relatively few shareholders
   • a closely-held corporation