The story
Inhabitants of the island were dissatisfied with price and quality of the ferry service, as operated by the company Alkmaar Packet since 1882. In 1907 some of them formed an association, led by local physician Adriaan Wagemaker, to operate a (hired) ferry of their own. In 1908 the association was changed into a public company and islanders raised 75.000 guilders to build its first ship, which went into service in August that year. A nearly complete boycott of the services of Alkmaar Packet by the locals made that company withdraw in 1909.
3650 privately traded shares are held by 3100 shareholders, mostly residents of Texel. In 2007, TESO celebrated its centennial anniversary, and therefore was conferred the 'Royal' designation on Texel by Queen Beatrix.
From Wikipedia’s article on Royal TESO, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5