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Russian American Company

(Encyclopedia)Russian American Company, colonial trading company, chartered by Czar Paul I in 1799. The charter granted the merchant-dominated company monopoly trading privileges in Russian America, which included ...

Gates, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Gates, Bill (William Henry Gates 3d), 1955–, American business executive, b. Seattle, Wash. At the age of 19, Gates founded (1975) the Microsoft Corp....

Chemnitz

(Encyclopedia)Chemnitz kärl-märks-shtät [key], city, Saxony, E central Germany, on the Chemnitz River. It is a ...

Fulton, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Fulton, Robert, 1765–1815, American inventor, engineer, and painter, b. near Lancaster, Pa. He was a man remarkable for his many talents and his mechanical genius. An expert gunsmith at the time of ...

Kirke, Sir David

(Encyclopedia)Kirke, Sir David kûrk [key], 1597–1655?, English merchant adventurer, b. France. In 1627 he and his brothers Lewis and Thomas sailed on a fleet outfitted by their father, Gervase Kirke, and Sir Wil...

Gould, George Jay

(Encyclopedia)Gould, George Jay go͞old [key], 1864–1923, U.S. railroad owner, b. New York City; son of Jay Gould. He was associated with his father, inherited all the holdings on Jay Gould's death, and adopted d...

Bute, John Stuart, 3d earl of

(Encyclopedia)Bute, John Stuart, 3d earl of byo͞ot [key], 1713–92, British politician. He was prominent as a friend of Frederick Louis, prince of Wales, as early as 1747 and became the tutor of Frederick's impre...

Hanseatic League

(Encyclopedia)Hanseatic League hănˌsēătˈĭk, hănˌzē– [key], mercantile league of medieval German towns. It was amorphous in character; its origin cannot be dated exactly. Originally a Hansa was a company ...

trust

(Encyclopedia)trust, in law, arrangement whereby property legally owned by one person is administered for the benefit of another. Three parties are ordinarily needed for the relation to arise: the settlor, who bequ...

conglomerate, in business

(Encyclopedia)conglomerate, corporation whose asset growth, often very rapid, comes largely through the acquisition of, or merger with, other firms whose products are largely unrelated to each other or to that of t...