The main purposes of having minority shareholders are to reward key employees and to raise equity capital. Giving a key employee stock is a great way to motivate excellent performance. From the employees' point of view, owning stock in the corporation is a great way to share in its growth.
Corporations can raise equity capital by offering shares of stock to an outside investor.
For corporations that already have a great deal of debt, this may be the only way to raise additional capital. Even if additional debt financing is available, equity financing may be more desirable depending on the needs and goals of the corporation. The amount of stock that has to be sold in order to raise a particular amount of capital is a matter of negotiation. The more capital that is needed and the more risky the investment is to the outside investor, the greater the percentage of stock that will have to be issued in order to obtain the capital. However, there are significant disadvantages to having minority shareholders.