The Dutch East India Company, the British East India Company, and the Virginia Company were

These companies were all joint-stock companies. This means that these companies were all owned by several people called shareholders. The purpose for these joint-stock companies was to reduce risk of overseas trade. If something were to happen to the company or its goods, there would only be minimal setbacks with each of the shareholders, rather than a huge setback with one owner.

Thy were all joint stock companies