ESOPs in Large Public Companies

The NCEO is currently working on a project to be released in 2007 that will provide data on the percentages of ESOP-only and combined 401(k)/ESOP plans in the 900 largest public companies. In 2004, the last year for which reliable data were available, 110 of these companies had such plans; 35 had plans owning more than 5% of their shares, and 10 had plans owning over 10%. Procter& Gamble, with 27% of its stock in its employee ownership plans (as of its 2006 SEC filings) had the largest plan. Overall, the data indicate there are about 485 ESOPs in public companies, or about 5% of all ESOPs. Data were taken from Form 5500 forms, except in the rare cases where companies included information about their plans in 10-k or other securities filings.