Who Is The Largest Harley-Davidson Shareholder & When Did The Company Go Public?

Harley-Davidson has long been one of the biggest names in the American motorcycle market. With more than 120 years of history and many successful motorcycles under its belt, that would likely remain true even if H-D went belly up tomorrow. For any motorcycle enthusiast, it's likely as hard to imagine that happening as it is to imagine a market without Harley-Davidson in it, such as it is with pretty much any company that has achieved iconic status worldwide.

Of course, it's safe to imagine that the brand has grown beyond even the vision of William Harley and Arthur Davidson in the century-plus since they founded the company. That being said, Harley-Davidson's history has seen no particular shortage of growing pains, including the passing of its founding fathers. In the absence of those founders, Harley-Davidson has also endured several shifts in ownership, one of which very nearly led the company to total ruin in the 1970s. 

It was William G. Davidson who fronted the investment group that saved H-D from disaster, leading to a brand resurgence that no doubt pleased its many shareholders, as the company has long been a publicly traded entity. Over the years, Harley-Davidson's shareholder standings have, understandably, also shifted, with Vanguard Group Inc. currently listed as the leader of the shareholder pack. As of this writing, Vanguard holds 13,690,84 shares of H-D stock, accounting for roughly 10% of the company.

Vanguard Group Inc. is obviously not the only investment group with skin in the Harley-Davidson game, with several other outfits such as BlackRock, Inc. and H Partners Management, LLC holding significant stakes in the company. That is just the nature of the beast when it comes to publicly traded brands. And yes, Harley-Davidson has been a publicly traded company for several decades now. That was not always the case, though, as the company was privately held for nearly six decades prior to its first public stock offering in 1957.

Interestingly enough, Harley-Davidson did not remain a publicly traded entity for long, with American Machine and Foundry (better known to many as AMF) acquiring the company outright in 1969. Unfortunately, AMF's ownership tenure did not prove particularly fruitful, as H-D found itself uncomfortably close to shuttering its doors forever during AMF's tumultuous ownership in the 1970s. 

Willie Davidson and a dozen other members of Harley-Davidson's senior management team purchased the company in 1981. That team was able to right the H-D ship thanks to products like the iconic Evolution V-Twin engine, and the brand has not looked back since. Davidson and his ownership partners did not keep Harley-Davidson to themselves once they got the company going again, though. They didn't even make it out of the 1980s before going public with Harley-Davidson, and the brand once again hit the New York Stock Exchange with a public offering in 1986. At that time, stocks were trading at just $11 per share.