Twenty-Nine Percent of S&P 500 Companies Have Broad-Based Ownership Plan

NCEO research for Innovest and the Herron Foundation has found that at least 29% of S&P 500 companies have some kind of broad-based employee ownership plan. To qualify for the list, a company had to have an ESOP, a 401(k) plan or other defined contribution plan with investments in company stock, or a broad-based stock option plan. Companies that only had employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs) were not included, but many of the companies with other broad-based plans also had ESPPs. One hundred and thirty-three of the companies had a 401(k) plan only, another 71 had a 401(k) plan and an ESOP, 12 had a 401(k) plan and a stock purchase plan, 17 had an ESOP only, and 22 had broad-based options or similar plans. The broad-based option group, however, underestimates how many companies had these plans. General surveys suggest about 12% of public companies have broad-based equity award plans that make most employees eligible. However, there is no way to obtain a specific list of these companies. We only included those, therefore, where we had confirmation of their plan from a consultant, their Web site, or information from the Best 100 Companies to Work For list.

The percentage employees own in these companies is almost always small, usually under 5% and rarely over 10%. The total dollar amount, however, sums to over $100 billion.