Core Concepts: Funding a Company and Capital Structure

Lending to companies is a cornerstone of banks’ business. Borrowing from banks is just one way, though, that companies fund operations and investment. In the first of our Core Concepts series highlighting the fundamentals of finance and markets, we describe the major classes of capital available to companies throughout their growth and evolution and discuss how these fit together in what is called a company’s “capital structure.”

When it comes to financing, companies raise mon…