How Do You Find Out Who Owns a Business?

“How do you find out who owns a business?” While the most surefire way to find out is to call and ask, there are also a few other avenues you can try.

Some businesses may list the owner on their website. If you know that the business is based in Ohio, you can try the Business Search on the Ohio Secretary ofState website. This will bring up filing information, including the name of the person who filed the paperwork. In some cases, that will be the owner. However, if the company used a lawyer to do the filing instead, that’s the name that will come up.

Another option is to check the county auditor’s website. If you know where the business is located, you can search the website for their county and find out who owns the property. (The Trumbull County property search site is located at http://property.co.trumbull.oh.us/Search.aspx.) If they’re renting, however, that won’t be of much help.

Finally, you can try “Hoover’s Handbook of American Business” and “Hoover’s Masterlist of Major U.S. Companies,” several editions of which are held in the reference collections of other CLEVNET libraries.