Blowing Bubbles: The Company You Keep (part II)

But how much power did even large shareholders have? Little. When the Company's directors petitioned the government to be released from their obligation to publish ten-year accounts in 1612 - the date when  investors were supposed to be able to withdraw their capital if they chose to - permission was granted and publication of the accounts and the repayment of investors' capital were both postponed. The only sop to shareholders was that in 1610 the Seventeen Lords agreed to make a dividend payment the following year, though at this stage the Company was so strapped for cash that the dividend had to be paid in spices. In 1612 it was announced that the VOC would not be liquidated, as originally planned. This meant that any shareholders who wanted their cash back had no alternative but to sell their shares to another investor.