Chapter 01 of 08
Is This Safe?
One idea at a time
A share is a small, tradeable piece of a company — a security that represents an ownership interest, not a physical object you can hold.
Ownership
Yes — but a proportionally tiny piece. If a company has 10 crore shares and you own 10, you hold a very small fraction of that company's ownership.
The specific rights that come with a share — voting, dividends, and so on — depend on the type of security and the applicable rules, not on how it feels to hold it.
Where it's recorded
Your ownership isn't a paper certificate sitting in a drawer — it's an electronic record held in your Demat account. That record doesn't vanish because a share's price falls.
Put together
A share represents a security — an ownership interest — recorded electronically in your Demat account. The market price can rise or fall without your ownership record disappearing, because those are two different things: what you own, and what it's currently worth.
Now you're probably wondering
“But who am I actually buying from?”
Explore Chapter 02 — Who Runs It? →