My grandfather founded a construction company by himself many decades ago. He built it up over many years to a behemoth in the region and created a culture where people worked there for life. When he retired, he sold the entire company to the employees with everyone getting a cut.
His funeral was full of so many faces I had never seen before. Somebody pointed out to me that these were the dozens of people that he made millionaires by deliberately deciding to do right by the employees. It was really moving to talk with so many people who had reaped the benefits of their labor and were grateful for his decision.
That to me is the model that I want to work for. Yes, people at the top made more than at the bottom. But they had been there for decades longer, and the gap was not as extreme at every other company I’ve worked for. Wealth was collectively shared.
My family could have been a lot wealthier if he had kept a cut of the company. But he retired comfortably and didn’t feel that he deserved any more money that others earned for him. I really admire that decision.
>My family could have been a lot wealthier if he had kept a cut of the company.
Unlikely... He probably made just as much or more with the ESOP than he would have selling in a private sale. When a business owner creates an ESOP for their business they sell their shares of to the company to the company itself TAX FREE for a fair independent valuation. It's just another way for a founder to cash out. It absolutely does benefit the employees, but it's not an act of charity, the owner still cashes out and realizes the full valuation of the company they built.
Well in this case, the company has more than quadrupled its profits since he sold the company. The new employee owners have done a phenomenal job running it.
His funeral was full of so many faces I had never seen before. Somebody pointed out to me that these were the dozens of people that he made millionaires by deliberately deciding to do right by the employees. It was really moving to talk with so many people who had reaped the benefits of their labor and were grateful for his decision.
That to me is the model that I want to work for. Yes, people at the top made more than at the bottom. But they had been there for decades longer, and the gap was not as extreme at every other company I’ve worked for. Wealth was collectively shared.
My family could have been a lot wealthier if he had kept a cut of the company. But he retired comfortably and didn’t feel that he deserved any more money that others earned for him. I really admire that decision.