[Mrs. Don-o]

My understanding is that a "closely-held" corporation is considered to be one that has 5 owners or less. It's not a "publicly traded" corporation with multitudes of shareholders.

So this ruling really is very narrow-gauge. Nevertheless, it is the kind of "pin-prick" that can make the Grand Egotist in Chief explode. Always a Work of Mercy worth doing.

[annalex]

Generally, a closely held corporation is a corporation that:

• Has more than 50% of the value of its outstanding stock owned (directly or indirectly) by 5 or fewer individuals at any time during the last half of the tax year; and
• Is not a personal service corporation.

The definitions for the terms "directly or indirectly" and "individual" are in Publication 542, Corporations. A closely held corporation is subject to additional limitations in the tax treatment of items such as passive activity losses, at-risk rules, and compensation paid to corporate officers.

IRS Q+A publication

Observe that this precludes Hobby Lobby for ever from seeking infusion of capital, whether or not the investor shares their values.

[HiTech RedNeck]

The situation of publicly traded would have to be treated separately if and when it arose. The USSC smiled on closely held corporations; it hasn’t yet frowned at other ones.