If it is true that a corporation is considered to be "a person" under law, and laws where passed in the U.S.A prohibiting a person from owni...

Question

If it is true that a corporation is considered to be "a person" under law, and laws where passed in the U.S.A prohibiting a person from owning another person, then how is it that a corporation can own another corporation? It seems to me that this would be slavery legally?

Answer

As a Franchise Attorney I can only say you are operating under a false assumption. A corporation requires a special legal framework that typically views the entity as a fictional person, as opposed to a natural person. As Lord Chancellor Haldane observed,

" ...a corporation is an abstraction. It has no mind of its own any more than it has a body of its own; its active and directing will must consequently be sought in the person of somebody who is really the directing mind and will of the corporation, the very ego and center of the personality of the corporation."

Consult with a good business or franchise attorney in your area for specific advice.

Mr. Franchise - Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D.

Franchise Foundations, a Professional Corporation