free thinking

A share is a single unit of ownership in a corporation, mutual fund, or any other organization. A joint stock company divides its capital into shares, which are offered for sale to raise capital, termed as issuing shares. Thus, a share is an indivisible unit of capital, expressing the proprietary relationship between the company and the shareholder. source: wikifiddlers

… so a share holder owns a share of the companies capital, not the company. the company is its own free independent entity.