While most people associate the business form the Limited Liability Company (or LLC) with small companies such as a dry cleaners or hobby stores, the reality is that there is no limitation to how large an LLC can get.
The Limited Liability Company is a newer entity. The first LLC statute was drafted by the Wyoming legislature in 1977. It wasn’t until the mid-90s when the majority of states enacted their own statutes. In Colorado, I would estimate that 80 – 90% of all new businesses formed now adopt the LLC format. They’re everywhere, and that’s a good thing.
Not only are there plenty of multi-million dollar LLCs out there, but there are plenty of multi-billion dollar LLCs, as well. The largest LLCs vary from quarter to quarter, but the biggest ones are household names. For example, Chrysler LLC earns more than $60 billion in revenues and employs nearly 80,000. Kaiser Permanente, the health insurance industry behemoth, is a California-based LLC. Every Halloween you likely patronize Mars Chocolate North American, LLC.
I couldn’t tell you specifically why each of these companies has chosen not to incorporate. But today, there is incredible flexibility in how you run your business. As long as your partners and investors are on board, and you have lawyers and accountants working with you who have the wherewithal to help you manage your business, there’s no reason you can’t grow your business with whatever format you choose.
