A controlling stake means you own enough shares to have full voting control (i.e., you control the board votes, can appoint the executives and set the company d

A controlling stake means you own enough shares to have full voting control (i.e., you control the board votes, can appoint the executives and set the company direction) without having to pay for 100% of the shares. There are a few reasons to only acquire a controlling stake rather than 100% of the shares; you might want to preserve capital for other uses, or leave some shares to be traded on public markets so the stock still has a market valuation.