Crown Jewels

Crown jewels refer to the most valuable unit(s) of a corporation as defined by characteristics such as profitability, asset value and future prospects. This could be the line of business that produces the most popular item that a company sells, or perhaps the department which holds all of the intellectual property for a project that is thought to be of great value in the future once it is finished. The crown jewels of a corporation can be heavily guarded, only allowing certain people access to trade secrets and proprietary information, as these operations can be seen as highly distinctive from competitors' abilities and are often worth a lot of money.

Crown jewels are often the most valuable part of a company. When there is a takeover attempt by another company, often the goal of the acquiring company will be to obtain the information and operations that make up the crown jewels of the target. This happens so frequently that there is a takeover defense strategy named the "crown jewel defense." A company can employ this crown jewels defense by creating anti-takeover clauses which compel the sale of their crown jewels if a hostile takeover occurs. This deters would be acquirers from attempting to take the firm over, since the acquirer would not receive the desired operations or information if they proceeded with the takeover.

The origins of this term are derived from the most valuable and important treasures that sovereigns possessed.