Russian-American Company

After the Athabaskan defeat of the Lebedev-Lastochkin Company in Cook Inlet, the Shelikhov Company was the only fur company left in Alaska. Baranov, as its manager, administered the Russian colony. But he still had no official status beyond being the company manager. 

That changed in 1799 when Tsar Paul I created a new firm, the Russian-American Company. This new firm was given exclusive rights to all trade and resources in Alaska. Baranov was appointed its manager and first governor of Russian-America.

The company's charter, or authorization to do business, made it an independent government department that answered only to the tsar. The company's status as a commercial organization allowed it to make money and reward its stockholders. These included the tsars and tsarinas, their families, and many high government officials. Its commercial nature also decreased the chances that the company's activities on Russia's eastern frontier would involve the Russian government in conflict with other nations. The company's status as a government organization allowed it to draw on government money and resources for its projects.