# What is the oldest existing company? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 17, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-existing-company/304276 "2005-05-17T18:17:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-existing-company/304276/1 "2005-05-17T18:17:38Z")
[This thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=316982) about family trees got me to wondering what the oldest existing company is? In the referenced thread, **Robot Arm** mentions that there is a Japanese construction company that can trace itself back to 578 CE. Does anyone know of any older than that? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-existing-company/304276/2 "2005-05-17T18:22:02Z")
Previous thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=144433](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=144433) Yes, there’s a Japanese company that beats all rivals. But in the western world, it depends how you define ‘company’, how you define continued existence, etc. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-existing-company/304276/3 "2005-05-17T18:22:42Z")
[We’ve done this.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=144433&highlight=oldest+company)😃