Employee Ownership Blog

The IRS has published its annual update of plan contribution and benefit limitations for 2009. Key changes for ESOP companies include:

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.

A new round of "stock drop" lawsuits has been filed in the wake of the implosion of leading financial institutions on Wall Street and elsewhere.

This year's winners include:

In the last update, we said that Senator Obama expressed qualified support for ESOPs in a recent letter to the ESOP Association. Actually, it was a letter written in 2005 to an Association member that was reprinted in a recent issue of the Association's newsletter. The error was ours.

The financial bailout bill contained an Alternative Minimum Tax "patch" that will keep the tax from applying to millions more taxpayers.

At the end of this year, the NCEO will publish my new short book, An Ownership Tale.

In a letter to the ESOP Association, Senator John McCain has said that "for millions of Americans owning a stake in the company they work for is extremely rewarding. Many Americans are able to 'work for themselves' through their participation in Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs).

A new survey of technology and life science companies from Culpepper and Associates finds that both private and public companies are relying less on options than they did in prior years.

In a highly publicized move, several well-known Los Angeles Times reporters have filed a class-action lawsuit against Sam Zell over how he structured the ESOP at the Tribune Company (parent of the Times) and how he is now running it.

The NCEO is soliciting nominations for the board of directors. Seven of the 21 elected members will be chosen. Board members serve three-year terms and can be reelected once. Board members serve at their own expense. The board meets before the annual meeting and periodically by conference call.

Data on equity compensation practices in closely held companies is hard to find. What data sets that do exist are generally based on client responses or are limited to the high-tech sector.