Mississippi Limited Liability Company Members

In Mississippi, the owners of a limited liability company are referred to as "Members". Members are analogous to the shareholders of a corporation in that both Members and shareholders are entitled to distributions of any profits from their respective businesses. Usually, Members also have the ultimate authority to hire and fire company Managers.

Unlike shareholders that own "stock" in a corporation, the Members of a limited liability company usually have ownership described in terms of percentages, such as a "40% Member". This simply means that for every dollar of profit that is distributed from the company, each Member is legally entitled to receive a percentage of that dollar that is equal to the Member's percentage of ownership interest. Obviously, the ownership interest of all Members must equal 100%.

Members can be passive, "silent partners" who do not actively participate in the company's affairs, or Members can take an active role. The beauty of Mississippi's limited liability company laws is that even Members who are active in company affairs do not become personally liable for company debts (unless the Members voluntarily agree to be liable).