New Data on Employee Ownership in Large Public Companies

The NCEO has published its annual update of employee ownership in large public companies, the most detailed analysis of its kind. Of the companies included in the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index of the largest U.S. companies and the S&P midcap 400, 199 have ESOPs or KSOPs (combined ESOP and 401(k) plans). One-third of these plans own more than 5% of the sponsoring company's shares. In addition, 17 401(k) plans own more than 5% of the shares in their employer. Altogether, 33% percent of the 900 companies have stand-alone 401(k) plans that include company stock.

164 of the companies have employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs), 29 provide options to most employees, and 11 have broad-based restricted stock plans (four of these also have option plans). While we are confident we have identified the large majority of ESOP, KSOP, and 401(k) plans owning over 5% of company stock in these companies, there is no way to be comprehensive about the individual equity plan lists. For this, we have looked at company Web sites to see if they indicate they have these kinds of plans and who is eligible. Not all companies have such information, however.

This list, which provides an analysis of employee ownership in the 900 largest publicly traded companies (the S&P 500 and the S&P midcap 400), was developed with support from the Heron Foundation and involved a complex task of checking multiple data sources.