[nucleardog]

It was likely created by an act of government/royalty/etc.

The UK law formalizing the structure of LLCs didn't really come around until the 1800s. Think of how many institutions in the UK are older than that (e.g., Bank of England is from 1694).

Or for something that is a little more distinct from the government itself--Hudson's Bay Company in Canada was formed in 1670. Canada didn't exist yet and the laws weren't on the books. It was created by royal charter. It's currently owned by an American private investment firm.

[hinkley]

Back then if you pissed off the king he could revoke your charter.

So effectively we used to have the death penalty for companies that committed treason-adjacent acts, or killed customers.

[FredPret]

Interesting idea - although wouldn't it have been the government that could, and still can, bring down the corporate death penalty if annoyed?

I think even back then the kings were losing power to the governments that ruled in their name.

It's also interesting to note that some of Europe's colonizing was actually done by companies which had armies, and definitely killed at least some of their customers (whether you think the customers were the colonizers or the colonized).