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ESOPs at their best do a lot more than provide working people with livable retirement income. Sure, this is perhaps the most important or compelling aspect of ESOPs, and one needn’t look far to see reasons why this sort of wealth inequality solution is so vital.

One common myth about employee ownership is that it is primarily for companies with well-educated and well-paid work forces.  

The DOL has issued new interim requirements (29 CFR Part 2520. Aug.

At the 2018 NCEO conference in Atlanta, we had a keynote panel of Web Industries, Polyguard, and Butler/Till. All are mature ESOPs that have had remarkable success in both business and ownership culture terms. They have highly engaged employees operating in high-involvement systems, using detailed financial and performance metrics, and generating not just better ideas for doing what they already do, but for new products and services as well.

Health care is a major cost for any company, but when employees are owners, the company has extra reason to create and maintain a plan that is good for employee health and company financial performance.

The NCEO’s 2022 Employee Ownership 100 list includes the nation’s largest companies that are at least 50% owned by an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) or other broad-based employee ownership plan.

The NCEO’s 2021 Employee Ownership 100 list includes the nation’s largest companies that are at least 50% owned by an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) or other broad-based employee ownership plan.

The NCEO’s 2023 Employee Ownership 100 list ranks the largest broad-based employee-owned companies in the US. This list includes the largest broad-based employee-owned companies in the US that we could verify using governmental or other credible third-party sources. Most are ESOP-owned, and one is a cooperative. To be on the list, companies must be at least 50% employee-owned; most on the list are 100%.

Despite the unmatchable tax advantages of ESOPs, some owners of closely held companies find the costs, complexity, and/or rules of selling to an ESOP discouraging. This can be especially true for very small businesses or for larger businesses that want more flexibility in plan structure.