Employee Ownership in the Largest 900 Companies
Executive Director
The NCEO identified 40 of the 900 largest public companies in the United States that provide broad-based options to employees (meaning most or all full-time employees are eligible for awards, although they may not actually get them), and 17 that provide broad-based restricted stock grants or similar awards. In addition, 425 of the 900 companies have employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs). Twenty-eight of the companies have an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), stock bonus plan, or profit sharing plan invested primarily in company stock. All numbers understate the actual numbers of plans, since in many case companies are not required to report systematically whether they have plans.
In almost all the cases, almost all full-time employees are eligible for awards, although they may not all receive them if the awards are based on performance reviews. In a few cases, employees had to reach a supervisory level, such as assistant manager, to be eligible.
The NCEO gathered data on all forms of broad-based employee ownership in the S&P 500 and the S&P MidCap 400 under a contract with the Heron Foundation, which uses the data as part of its own efforts to encourage broader ownership of wealth. The list is compiled based on information in the employee benefits area of the companies' Web sites as well as a Web search to see whether the company has an ESPP. Because some companies do not specify their benefits, this list is not comprehensive.
The March 2013 issue (members area username and password required) of our Equity Compensation Report, a PDF-only newsletter for NCEO members, has a table on the last page listing the companies that offer broad-based individual equity grants.