Educational material from 
What you will learn
- Read a specified voting right rather than infer it from a letter.
- Calculate total share count and total possible votes separately.
- Explain why equal share ownership can produce different voting percentages.
Write both share classes’ terms first
The fictional company has 200 A shares and 800 B shares. Each A carries ten votes and each B one. Assume all are outstanding, with the same economic share and dividend rights per share. These are explicit model terms, rather than universal features of every A and B share in every company.
Real companies publish multiple share classes with differing votes; AGES’s own share page is one example among the sources. Our quantities and prices do not come from it. A real company exercise needs its current share information and terms, rather than a rule based only on A or B appearing in a name.
If the table does not fit, scroll it sideways.
| Share class | Share quantity | Possible votes |
|---|---|---|
| A: ten votes each | 200 | 2,000 |
| B: one vote each | 800 | 800 |
| Total | 1,000 | 2,800 |
Two equal quantities can carry different voting shares
One person holds 20 A shares. Share ownership is 20 / 1,000 = 2 percent. Their 200 votes represent 200 / 2,800, approximately 7.14 percent of all possible votes. Another person holds 20 B shares: also 2 percent of shares, but 20 / 2,800, approximately 0.71 percent of votes.
In our model both people have the same economic share because equal rights per share are assumed. Their voting proportions differ because votes per share differ. We calculate proportions of every possible model vote, rather than votes actually participating in a particular decision. Attendance and other decision-specific details have not been provided.
Price answers another question
Separately suppose the model price is SEK 12 for an A share and SEK 10 for a B share. The two twenty-share holdings are then valued at SEK 240 and SEK 200. That price difference changes neither share quantity nor votes in the exercise. Keep value, economic ownership and voting share on three separate rows.
A lower price in one share class does not prove it is the better choice. Rights, trading, availability and other terms can differ. This task includes no automatic conversion or purchase or sale recommendation. A class letter also does not describe a company’s future profit or share-price movement; those remain different questions.
Follow the correct share class when reading company information
Make a checking card with company name, share class, any trading symbol, observation time, outstanding share counts and voting rights. Confirm that the price row describes the same class as the rights row. If total possible votes are missing, obtain them or calculate them from complete information before treating a voting proportion as known.
Investiq’s company-search guide introduces checking identity and share information. This page describes no voting, ownership registration or automatic voting-rights calculation in the app. Continue with the share-price and market-cap lesson if you need to separate the value of your own holding from the combined market value of company shares.
Try it yourself
Another fictional company has 100 A shares with ten votes each and 400 B shares with one vote each. All shares have equal economic rights. You follow five A and fifteen B. Calculate your share ownership and proportion of all possible votes.
Show the solution and explanation
Share ownership is 4 percent. Voting share is approximately 4.64 percent.
Quantity is 5 + 15 = 20 of 500 shares. Votes are 5 × 10 + 15 = 65 out of 100 × 10 + 400 = 1,400. 20 / 500 × 100 = 4; 65 / 1,400 × 100 ≈ 4.64.
Check your understanding
Does every model share carry exactly one vote?
No. A carries ten and B one under the specified terms.
Does our voting share include only people attending a particular meeting?
No. The denominator is every possible model vote; actual attendance has not been provided.
Practise with virtual money
Try what you just learned in a practice portfolio with virtual money. You don't deposit any real money.
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More lessons on this topic
Funds, bonds and ownership
- Shares and fund units: distinguish company ownership from a fund holding
- What is an index fund? Separate the fund from the index it tracks
- What is an ETF? Market price and fund value in a worked example
- Shares and corporate bonds: company ownership versus a debt claim
- Listings and IPOs: new shares, existing shares and who receives the money
Sources and examples
- AGES: one issuer’s published share classes and voting rights
- Investor.gov: IPOs, selling shareholders and offer price
The sources support the factual explanations. Calculations and exercises were created for this lesson. Amounts and price changes are invented unless stated otherwise.
This material is educational and does not recommend securities to buy. A simulated result does not guarantee a future result.
