Which company is often described as the first modern corporation, with an estimated peak value near $7.9 trillion today?

The Dutch East India Company is often described as the first modern corporation, with an estimated peak value near $7.9 trillion in today’s money.

Founded in 1602, the Dutch East India Company, or VOC, received a charter from the Dutch government to trade in Asia. It could raise capital by issuing shares, operate for the long term, and exercise unusual state-backed powers, including making treaties and maintaining military forces.

Historians and financial writers sometimes compare its peak value with modern market capitalizations. Estimates around $7.9 trillion are inflation-adjusted or otherwise reconstructed, not an observed modern stock-market quotation. The comparison is therefore illustrative rather than directly equivalent to a present-day company ranking.

The VOC traded on the Amsterdam exchange and paid dividends to investors. It eventually declined because of corruption, debt, military costs, competition, and changing trade conditions before being dissolved in 1799.