Microsoft bought $150m of non-voting stock; Apple was saved.

Mr. Rohatyn also proposes that the Government pump $25 billion into the banking system by buying non-voting stock.

Under the terms of the agreement, Texaco will pay $95.1 million in cash and issue Tana's owners $381.4 million worth of new, variable-rate, non-voting stock.

In return, Hallwood would receive a still-undetermined amount of non-voting common stock in BancTexas.

No wonder, then, that BNP's certificats d'investissement, or non-voting stock, have roared ahead on rumours of privatisation, leaving Crédit Lyonnais's in their dust.

It is not clear whether they will hold voting or non-voting stock.

Reader's Digest made an initial public offering in February, swapping its non-public stock for a combination of non-voting common stock and cash.

Not all corporations offer voting stock and non-voting stock, nor do all stocks usually have equal voting power.

If the founders of a company maintain all of the voting stock and sell non-voting stock only to the public, takeover attempts are unlikely.

Sarrazin is considered a key developer of the people's share model of the German railway, which provides for the issue of non-voting preferred stock to limit the influence of private investors.