Seventeen of the Forbes 2024 list of the largest 100 privately held companies (ranked by sales) have some form of employee ownership. Five are 100% ESOP-owned, four are minority ESOP-owned, two have profit-sharing plans primarily invested in company stock, one is an employee ownership trust, and one is a broad-based partnership available to employees at all levels. Supermarkets, convenience store chains, engineering, and construction are the most common industries among the employee ownership companies. We also compile a list of the largest employee-owned companies for our yearly Employee Ownership 100. That list includes only companies for which we have reliable external verification that their plans are broad-based, and it also focuses on majority and 100% employee-owned firms and the active participants they cover.
| Largest Private Companies (Forbes, November 2024) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Name | Industry | Employees | Plan type |
| 1 | Cargill | Food & drink | 160,000 | Minority ESOP |
| 3 | Publix | Supermarkets | 255,000 | Majority ESOP |
| 5 | H-E-B | Supermarkets | 154,000 | Profit sharing |
| 20 | QuikTrip | Convenience stores | 33,000 | Minority ESOP |
| 22 | Wawa | Convenience stores | 47,000 | Minority ESOP |
| 30 | Sheetz | Convenience stores | 25,000 | Minority ESOP |
| 31 | Edward Jones | Financial advice | 55,000 | Broad-based partnership |
| 35 | Hy-Vee | Supermarkets | 75,000 | Profit sharing |
| 44 | Graybar Electric | Electrical supply | 9,500 | Employee ownership trust |
| 53 | WinCo | Supermarkets | 20,000 | ESOP |
| 79 | KeHE Distributors | Food distribution | 7,900 | Majority ESOP |
| 80 | Sammons | Holding company | 6,490 | 100% ESOP |
| 81 | Burns & McDonnell | Engineering | 14,000 | 100% ESOP |
| 87 | Hensel Phelps | Construction | 4,700 | Restricted stock units |
| 91 | Schreiber Foods | Dairy products | 10,000 | 100% ESOP |
| 97 | J.E. Dunn | Construction | 4,000 | Majority ESOP |
| 99 | McCarthy Holdings | Construction | 10,000 | 100% ESOP |