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I am trying to discover the individuals who originally founded the Green Investment Company in San Francisco. Some searching online revealed that they filed their Articles of Incorporation on Tuesday, 07 Aug 1923 in the state of California.

I am assuming this document is in the public record. How would I go about obtaining a copy?

fbrereto
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3 Answers3

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In many places, incorporating or forming companies requires a public notice to be inserted in the newspaper (or, in some places, in an official government gazette).

So it may be worth checking the "public notices" for local papers around the date of formation.

The people involved may also have announced the formation of their business in the paper. More likely for a retail business than for an investment company, unless they were also trying to get investors. Again a newspaper search may help.

Note the California Secretary of State says "Owner, shareholder and employee information for a business entity is not made of record with the California Secretary of State. Requests for information should be directed to the business entity itself.", so that may not be a useful source.

Rob Hoare
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It would seem there is a Business Entities Records Order Form that needs to be filled out and filed with the State. Note that varying fees are associated with obtaining copies of these documents.

fbrereto
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If the corporation is still trading, the articles will be available from its current office or from the relevant registry. That appears to be the Office of the Secretary of State for California

The process for obtaining copies of documents is described at http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/be/information-requests.htm

Fortiter
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  • I googled nearly the same thing and came nowhere near the Secretary of State's site. Looks like I have to hone my skills... – fbrereto Nov 07 '12 at 01:00
  • Is the implication of this answer, then, that if I'm to find out who originally founded the company I have to contact John W Branch (the agent listed)? – fbrereto Nov 07 '12 at 01:02
  • It would be better to contact the person listed as President (on CorporationWiki, if they can be found), rather than the "agent for service". The latter is usually an accountant (as in this case), or lawyer, or corporation incorporator, who is the person tax returns and corp filings are sent to, often for many companies. The president would be more directly involved (in smaller companies). – Rob Hoare Nov 07 '12 at 01:23