Corporate Issuers

A sole proprietorship has one owner with unlimited personal liability for business debts, and its income is taxed once as the owner's personal income (pass-through, no separate entity tax).

In a general partnership all partners have unlimited liability and share management. In a limited partnership, general partners have unlimited liability and manage the firm, while limited partners have liability capped at their investment and do not manage.

A corporation has its own legal identity, separation of owners from managers, limited liability for owners, and perpetual existence independent of any owner.

Their separate legal identity, limited liability, transferable ownership shares, and perpetual existence make it easier to raise large amounts of equity and debt from many investors.

Ownership (shareholders who provide capital) is separated from control (managers who run operations), enabling diversified ownership but creating principal-agent conflicts.