VOC was worth more money than any other company, ever.

Check this out. In present financial numbers the VOC was worth more money than any other company ever in existence on planet earth. (but then some of you may know this already).
Marcus
View attachment 144418
Dear God not again. This BS gets trotted out every time Dutch feel they are becoming irrelevant. 1. VOC was never a for profit corporation, you are comparing apples to potatoes- it was a "company state". What do the Dutch do now that is of any importance- isn't it repackaged financial services along with the Dutch-Irish EU tax-avoidance sandwich ? Or does it like to delude itself it ever had any local popularity outside its island of "belanda hitam": "black Dutch" Ambonese and Maluku lickspittles?
 
Dear Oberstdackel

Firstly, I am not a Dutchman. I am a South African - a country whose very existence is attributed to the exploits of the VOC.
Secondly, I am an amateur historian who loves model shipbuilding.
Thirdly, because of its historic relevance to South Africa, I have chosen to build a model of a VOC ship.

As such I find the above information on the VOC not only relevant, but valuable - valuable, because it adds to history. And that is the beauty of the history - we cannot adopt the proverbial "head-in-the-sand-ostrich-attitude" when it comes to wishing pieces of history away, simply because we as individuals don't like it. (By the way, I say proverbial because ostriches do not really bury their heads in the sand.)

The world is such an upside down place as it is - can we not live and let live?

Kind regards - Heinrich
 
Dear God not again. This BS gets trotted out every time Dutch feel they are becoming irrelevant. 1. VOC was never a for profit corporation, you are comparing apples to potatoes- it was a "company state". What do the Dutch do now that is of any importance- isn't it repackaged financial services along with the Dutch-Irish EU tax-avoidance sandwich ? Or does it like to delude itself it ever had any local popularity outside its island of "belanda hitam": "black Dutch" Ambonese and Maluku lickspittles?
Sorry for me coming from the Netherlands and being irrelavent.:)
But your historic context is wrong.
VOC was not a state owned company but based on shares of which the Amsterdam stock exchange was based. Everybody could invest and take part in it.
I am not talking about what the VOC did bit about how it was organized, it was the first stock based privately owned multi national company in the world.
 
Dear God not again. This BS gets trotted out every time Dutch feel they are becoming irrelevant. 1. VOC was never a for profit corporation, you are comparing apples to potatoes- it was a "company state". What do the Dutch do now that is of any importance- isn't it repackaged financial services along with the Dutch-Irish EU tax-avoidance sandwich ? Or does it like to delude itself it ever had any local popularity outside its island of "belanda hitam": "black Dutch" Ambonese and Maluku lickspittles?


Woah..... Lighten up........ Irrelevant?.................. Really?
I am just stating a historic fact and
Maarten has defined what the VOC was.
Presently not important but in that period it was.

You mentioned "irrelevant"? I would say, pretty much everything you posted. It has nothing to do with the subject matter.
Marcus
 
On the light hearted side of this discussion, you can say the VOC planted the seeds to success for the company at its time in history, as first stock traded company.

That I didn't know about them. But like many companies of their time they were the best for a while and now not so much is heard of them, except history.
 
The VOC was an example of “the bigger they are, the harder they fall“. Arguably the most spectacular bankruptcy before the modern age.
 
Sorry for me coming from the Netherlands and being irrelavent.:)
But your historic context is wrong.
VOC was not a state owned company but based on shares of which the Amsterdam stock exchange was based. Everybody could invest and take part in it.
I am not talking about what the VOC did bit about how it was organized, it was the first stock based privately owned multi national company in the world.

I think there is a misunderstanding. A company state is not a company owned by the state but a company which can in some areas act like a traditional state. The British East India company is perhaps the most famous example but the VoC pretty much did the same.
Regarding it's value, comparing value, either of companies or private persons, over centuries and vastly different economies is difficult and i have yet to see a halfway reliable method of doing so.
 
Back
Top