What Dutch company, formed in 1602, is often called the first modern multinational corporation?

The Dutch company formed in 1602 and often called the first modern multinational corporation was the Dutch East India Company.

Known by its Dutch initials as the VOC, from Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the company was established on 20 March 1602 by consolidating several Dutch trading ventures. The Dutch government granted it a 21-year monopoly over Dutch trade in Asia, particularly the lucrative spice trade. Investors could buy shares, making the VOC one of the world’s earliest major joint-stock companies.

The VOC operated across multiple countries and colonies, with trading posts and settlements stretching from the Netherlands to Asia. It also possessed unusual quasi-governmental powers: it could negotiate treaties, wage war, establish colonies, administer justice, and mint money. Those international operations and corporate powers explain why historians often describe it as the first modern multinational corporation.

The company is not the same as the British East India Company, which was founded in 1600 and was also a major imperial trading enterprise. The VOC remained active until 1799, when it was dissolved and its possessions were taken over by the Dutch state.