Answer: Private corporations or the Spanish crown.
Step-by-step explanation:
The two great colonial European superpowers, Britain and Spain, had colonies around the world. When we talk about the colonization of North and South America, that territory had its founders and real owners. In North America, where British colonization was dominant, the real owners of these colonies were British lords who financed colonies' formation. The reasons for the formation of colonies and religious nature were also an economic background. Large corporations sent colonists to the New World to exploit the area economically over time.
On the other hand, the owners of the Spanish colonies were the king and the king. From the first geographical discoveries, the Spanish crown financed the campaigns to support later the establishment of colonies where they were the direct owners.