Holding, Parent & Personal Holding Companies

In the United States, Berkshire Hathaway is one of the largest publicly traded holding companies; it owns numerous insurance companies, manufacturing businesses, retailers, and other companies. Two other large holding companies of note are UAL Corporation and AMR Corporation, publicly traded holding companies whose primary purposes are to wholly own United Airlines and American Airlines, respectively.

In the United States, Berkshire Hathaway is one of the largest publicly traded holding companies; it owns numerous insurance companies, manufacturing businesses, retailers, and other companies. Two other large holding companies of note are UAL Corporation and AMR Corporation, publicly traded holding companies whose primary purposes are to wholly own United Airlines and American Airlines, respectively.

Sometimes a company intended to be a pure holding company identifies itself as such by adding "Holdings" or "(Holdings)" to its name.

A parent company is a holding company that owns enough voting stock in another firm (subsidiary) to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors. A parent company could simply be a company that wholly owns another company.

In the United States of America, a personal holding company is defined in section 542 of the Internal Revenue Code. A corporation is a personal holding company if both of the following requirements are met:

• Personal Holding Company Income Test: At least 60% of the corporation's adjusted ordinary gross income for the tax year is from dividends, interest, rent, and royalties.
• Stock Ownership Requirement: At any time during the last half of the tax year, more than 50% in value of the corporation's outstanding stock is owned, directly or indirectly, by 5 or fewer individuals.