closely held

Definition of closely held

: having most stock shares and voting rights in the hands of a few a closely held business

Examples of closely held in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The limited partner — Energy Transfer LP — is publicly traded, while the general partner is closely held, with Warren controlling a majority stake. — Bloomberg Wire, Dallas News, "Ex-Energy Secretary Rick Perry rejoins Energy Transfer’s board," 3 Jan. 2020 The draft reports, all dating from October, had been closely held until this week. — Sean Reilly, Science | AAAS, "EPA science advisers slammed the agency for ignoring science. Here is what they said," 2 Jan. 2020 The details of planning for troop reductions in West Africa have been closely held in the Pentagon, and Congress has not been consulted, officials said. — Arkansas Online, "Defense chief studying troop cuts in West Africa," 25 Dec. 2019 The details of planning for troop reductions in West Africa have been closely held in the Pentagon, and Congress has not been consulted, officials said. — BostonGlobe.com, "Officials say the overhaul of Africa deployments will be followed by one in Latin America, and that drawdowns will happen in Iraq and Afghanistan, as has been expected.," 25 Dec. 2019 The guest lists were closely held, including the likes of Brad Pitt, Katy Perry, Tyler, the Creator and others. — Kevin Williams, chicagotribune.com, "Kanye West is having church on Sunday at Northerly Island, but what that will mean is anyone’s guess," 7 Sep. 2019 BP Plc agreed to sell its entire business in Alaska to closely held Hilcorp Energy Co. for $5.6 billion, ending a six-decade presence in the state as oil production there declines. — Bloomberg Wire, Dallas News, "BP leaves Alaska after 60 years in $5.6 billion sale to Houston-based Hilcorp," 27 Aug. 2019 There is no other business so closely held by one family that is also so big and so diversified. — Chris Isidore, CNN, "Koch Industries is the most important company you may not know," 23 Aug. 2019 The Trump administration still can try to delay or block Democrats in Congress from issuing subpoenas for the president’s closely held business information by appealing directly to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to intervene. — Ann E. Marimow, Washington Post, "Democrats’ emoluments lawsuit against President Trump can proceed, federal judge rules," 25 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'closely held.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near closely held

closely/well observed

Statistics for closely held

Last Updated

11 Jan 2020

Cite this Entry

“Closely held.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/closely%20held. Accessed 24 January 2020.

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