Answer:
A corporation, with shares spread among many investors
Step-by-step explanation:
Join-stock companies are the antecessor to modern-day corporations. In fact, join-stock companies worked essentially the same way as a modern corporation.
Join-stock companies were born in a few European countries: Italy, the Netherlands, Britain and France. They were developed when financing needs became too high for a single or a few owners to finance. This is why stocks began to be sold to many individuals, who each held a fraction of ownership of the Join-stock company.
The two most famous Join-stock companies were the British East India Company, and the Dutch East India Company. These two companies were involved in very similar businesses: colonial adventures, trade, and even slavery.