# Shareholder Rights

*Corporate Finance & M&A — Finicade finance glossary*

Shareholder rights are what owning a share entitles you to: voting on directors, dividends declared, approving major deals, inspecting some records.

Shareholder rights are what owning a share actually entitles you to: voting on directors, receiving dividends declared, approving major transactions, and inspecting certain records. Dual-class structures separate economic ownership from control, letting founders hold a majority of votes with a minority of shares — legal, increasingly common, and the single biggest governance debate in listed markets.

**Also known as:** voting rights, dual-class shares, minority shareholder rights

**Related terms:** [Corporate Governance](https://finicade.com/glossary/corporate-governance), [Common Stock](https://finicade.com/glossary/common-stock), [Poison Pill](https://finicade.com/glossary/poison-pill), [Activist Investor](https://finicade.com/glossary/activist-investor), [Rights Issue](https://finicade.com/glossary/rights-issue)

Source: https://finicade.com/glossary/shareholder-rights