Minority interest

All shareholders whose combined shares represent less than half of the total outstanding shares issued by a corporation have a minority interest in that corporation.

In fact, in many cases, the combined holdings of the minority shareholders are considerably less than half of the total shares.

In another example, in a partnership, any partner who has a smaller percentage than another partner is said to have a minority interest. Under normal circumstances, it is difficult for those with a minority interest to have any real influence on corporate policy.