What are Shares and how many are required?
Shares represent ownership in the Corporation. A Corporation must have at least one share to operate. Shares in a private Corporation have nothing to do with value; they merely represent how the ownership in the corporation is to be divided. In Virginia, a Corporation can have up to 5,000 shares without being charged additional fees. In order to vest your Corporation with as much flexibility as possible, it is often recommended to authorize 5,000 shares. You do not have to issue all of them at once and you should keep some in reserve in the event you need to issue shares or raise capital later.
