More Than 90% Of Corporations In The US Are Just Like The One At The Center Of the Hobby Lobby ruling

http://www.businessinsider.com/closely-held-companies-hobby-lobby-decision-obamacare-2014-6

Brett LoGiurato
Jun. 30, 2014

In perhaps the biggest case of its term, the Supreme Court ruled Monday [June 30, 2014] that "closely held," for-profit corporations like Hobby Lobby Inc. cannot be compelled to pay for employees' contraception if they object on religious grounds.

So, what is a closely held corporation?

The Internal Revenue Service has spelled it out in plain terms in a Q&A on its website. Generally, it fits two descriptions:

1. Has more than 50% of the value of its outstanding stock owned (directly or indirectly) by five or fewer individuals at any time during the last half of the tax year; and

2. Is not a personal service corporation.

According to the IRS, more than 90% of all businesses in the U.S. fit the definition of "closely held," a statistic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi cited in her denunciation of the decision.

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Publicly traded companies, while making up a smaller share of businesses overall, account for almost half of employment in the U.S. Still, closely held companies comprise 52% of the American workforce, according to a 2002 study from New York University.

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