How do you find who owns a company?
For a US public company, read the proxy statement's ownership table and Schedules 13D and 13G. For a UK company, check the free Companies House register of people with significant control. US private companies have no public owner register, and since March 2025 FinCEN no longer collects ownership reports from them (FinCEN, 2025).
Where should you start?
Start by answering 2 questions: is the company public or private, and in which country is it registered? The answer picks the record.
| Company type | Best public record | What it shows, as of October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| US public company | Proxy statement (DEF 14A) ownership table | Holders above 5%, directors and officers |
| US public company | Schedules 13D and 13G | Each holder above 5%, filed by the holder |
| US public company | Form 13F | Long positions of institutional managers with $100 million or more |
| US private company | State business records, Form D | Officers, directors, sometimes LLC members; rarely owners |
| UK company | Companies House PSC register | Individuals or companies with more than 25% or other significant control |
| Any company with an LEI | GLEIF Level 2 data | Direct and ultimate accounting parents |
How do you find the owners of a US public company?
Open the latest proxy statement on SEC EDGAR, filed as DEF 14A, and find the section on security ownership of certain beneficial owners and management. Item 403 of Regulation S-K requires a table of every person or group known to own more than 5% of any class of voting securities, plus the holdings of directors and executive officers (17 CFR 229.403, eCFR). It is the single best summary of who controls the company.
Then check the filings the holders make themselves. Schedules 13D and 13G name each holder above 5% and are often more recent than the proxy. For institutional holders below 5%, read their quarterly 13F reports, explained in how to read a 13F filing. Insider purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% holders appear on Form 4, generally within 2 business days of the trade (Investor.gov, Forms 3, 4 and 5).
What is the difference between Schedule 13D and 13G?
Both are triggered by owning more than 5% of a class of voting shares; the difference is intent. Schedule 13D is for holders who may seek to change or influence control. Schedule 13G is the short form for passive holders and qualified institutions.
The SEC shortened the deadlines in its October 2023 rule. An initial Schedule 13D is due within 5 business days, and 13D amendments within 2 business days. Passive 13G filers have 5 business days for the first filing, while qualified institutional investors and exempt investors file 45 days after the end of the quarter in which they crossed 5% (SEC press release 2023-219; SEC fact sheet). A new 13D on a company is often the first public sign of an activist.
Can you find who owns a private US company?
Usually only in part. There is no national register of private company owners in the United States. Since the March 2025 interim final rule, FinCEN's beneficial ownership reporting applies only to foreign companies registered to do business in the US, and domestic companies are exempt (FinCEN, 2025). Even when it applied, that data was never public.
Start with the business registry of the state where the company was formed. What it shows varies by state: LLC filings sometimes list members or managers, while corporations usually list officers and directors, who are not necessarily shareholders (LegalZoom, finding LLC owners). The registered agent is a contact for legal papers, not an owner.
If the company has raised money privately, its Form D names its executive officers, directors and promoters, but not its investors, as set out in how to read a Form D filing. Questions about private company ownership come up often in investing and small business forums, and the honest answer is the same: public records show who runs a private company far more often than who owns it.
How do you find who owns a UK company?
Search the company on Companies House's Find and update company information service, which is free and needs no registration (GOV.UK, searching the register). Open the company record and read its list of persons with significant control.
A person with significant control holds more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, can appoint or remove a majority of the board, or otherwise has significant influence or control (GOV.UK, people with significant control). The PSC can be a company, in which case you repeat the search on that company until you reach an individual or a foreign parent. Home addresses and full dates of birth are withheld from the public record (GOV.UK, your personal information on the register).
How do you trace a corporate parent across borders?
Use GLEIF. Companies with an LEI report their direct and ultimate accounting consolidating parents, and when a parent has its own LEI the link appears on both records (GLEIF, Level 2 data). A reporting exception, such as control by a natural person, is a clue in itself. The full method is in how to find a company's LEI.
Where does Tamarly Intelligence help?
Tamarly Intelligence is Tamarly's research platform on companies, funds, countries and markets, built from official filings and open data. Company pages show institutional holders from 13F filings, and each private company has its Form D history rebuilt into rounds. Its sources include SEC EDGAR, UK Companies House and GLEIF, and its deals database is built from SEC merger filings. Every figure links to the filing or record it came from.
Tamarly does not show investor names on private rounds, because the filings do not contain them, and when it does not cover a company it says so. On Level 2 and above you can ask Tamarly to research a company from your portfolio and build a sourced profile of it.
See owners, holders and parents from official filings, free for 7 days
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free way to see who owns a company?
Yes, for many companies. SEC EDGAR, the UK Companies House register and GLEIF's LEI Search are all free. Coverage is weakest for US private companies, which file no public ownership register and have been exempt from FinCEN beneficial ownership reporting since March 2025 (FinCEN, 2025).
How do I find who owns more than 5% of a public company?
Read the beneficial ownership table in the latest proxy statement, which Item 403 of Regulation S-K requires for holders above 5% (17 CFR 229.403). Then search EDGAR for Schedules 13D and 13G filed on the company since that proxy.
Can I find the owner of an LLC?
Sometimes. Some states show LLC members or managers in formation documents or annual reports, while others do not require owners to be named (LegalZoom, finding LLC owners). The registered agent can forward a message but is not the owner.
About the author. Melvine Manchau is the founder of Tamarly and author of the Tamarly Newsletter. He previously worked at PwC, Salesforce, BlackRock/eFront and Lazard.
About Tamarly Research. Tamarly Research is part of Tamarly Media, which holds no investment positions. Tamarly is a New York research house that studies how AI is changing regulated institutions.