The Jaluit Company was the longest-lasting and most profitable German colonial joint-stock company. Profit margins rose from 5% in 1892 to 12% in 1900 and 20% in 1906. The company's licensing fees pushed out American and British competition; Crawford & Co. and Henderson & Macfarlane sold their holdings to the Jaluit Company in 1893 and 1899, respectively. After acquiring the trading stations of the British Pacific Islands Company in 1901, the Jaluit Company held a monopoly in the region. Australian firm Burns, Philp & Co. complained that the harbor fees it paid in Marshallese ports were excessive, and the British government protested the Jaluit Company's practices as a violation of the Anglo-German Declarations' free-trade provision. On March 31, 1906, the German government assumed direct control and reorganized the Marshall Islands and Nauru as part of the protectorate of German New Guinea. As compensation, the Jaluit Company received a 10% share of Pacific Phosphate Company, which began mining operations on Nauru that year. The company generated the largest dividends of any German company in the Pacific through the phosphate trade, rising from 30% in 1907 to 84% in 1913. Even after the monopoly ended, the company continued to dominate the Micronesian copra trade.
The Jaluit Company was the longest-lasting and most profitable German colonial joint-stock company. Profit margins rose from 5% in 1892 to 12% in 1900 and 20% in 1906. The company's licensing fees pushed out American and British competition; Crawford & Co. and Henderson & Macfarlane sold their holdings to the Jaluit Company in 1893 and 1899, respectively. After acquiring the trading stations of the British Pacific Islands Company in 1901, the Jaluit Company held a monopoly in the region. Australian firm Burns, Philp & Co. complained that the harbor fees it paid in Marshallese ports were excessive, and the British government protested the Jaluit Company's practices as a violation of the Anglo-German Declarations' free-trade provision. On March 31, 1906, the German government assumed direct control and reorganized the Marshall Islands and Nauru as part of the protectorate of German New Guinea. As compensation, the Jaluit Company received a 10% share of Pacific Phosphate Company, which began mining operations on Nauru that year. The company generated the largest dividends of any German company in the Pacific through the phosphate trade, rising from 30% in 1907 to 84% in 1913. Even after the monopoly ended, the company continued to dominate the Micronesian copra trade.