A share refers to a single unit of ownership in a company or exchange traded fund (ETF). Think of the total value of a company as a pie, and each share is a slice of that pie. Because companies often have high market caps, one person rarely owns the whole thing. So they are broken up into shares: Share price x number of shares = value of the company. While some companies are privately held, owned by founders, financial backers and employees, once a company goes public, anyone can buy and sell their shares in the company through the share markets. Shares are not the same as stocks, but the terms are often used interchangeably.
We acknowledge and thank the FMA, Dr Karena Kelly and Brook Taurua Grant, the RBNZ and the Māori Dictionary for their research which helped us with te Reo Māori kupu for this glossary.
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