The corporate charter of Carla Vista Corporation allows the issuance of a maximum of 30,800,000 shares of $1 par value common stock. During its first three years of operation, Carla issued 2,450,000 shares at $16 per share. It later acquired 32,000 of these shares as treasury stock for $28 per share. Based on the above information, answer the following questions:

(a)

How many shares were authorized?