Just Under Half of Best 100 Companies to Work For Have Broad-Based Employee Ownership

Thirty-seven of 76 companies on the annual Fortune Best 100 Companies to Work For list have some form of broad-based employee ownership. That percentage has varied very little since the 1990s, in part because the list does not change dramatically from year to year. Companies must apply to be on the list and are rated primarily on a trust index developed by the Great Place to Work Institute. Twenty-four of the companies are partnerships, nonprofits, mutual corporations, or other entities that cannot have a broad-based plan. Four of the companies (R.W. Baird, TD Industries, Publix, and Burns and McDonnell) are majority employee-owned. Sixteen of the companies have a stock purchase plan only; 17 have broad-based equity grants and, almost always, a stock purchase plan as well.