Company Values

ESOP Statistics

There are approximately 11,000 ESOPs in place in the U.S. , covering 10 million employees (10% of the private sector workforce). These employees draw in excess of 3% of their total compensation from ESOP contributions.

The growth of ESOP formation has been influenced by federal legislation. While the rapid increase in new ESOPs in the late 1980s subsided after Congress removed certain tax incentives in 1989, the overall number has remained steady with new plans replacing terminated ESOPs. The approximate chronology is as follows:

• 1974 – 200 ESOP companies
• 1981 – 1,500
• 1984 – 2,500
• 1987 – 5,000
• 1990 – 10,000
• 1996 – 10,000
• 1997 – 10,000
• 2000 – 11,500
• 2002 – 11,500
• 2003 – 11,500
• 2004 – 11,000
• 2005 – 11,000

About 800 ESOPs - 7% - are in publicly traded companies. However, these companies employ just under 50% of the nation's 10 million employee owners.

An estimated 6,000 of the 11,000 companies have ESOPs that are large enough to be a major factor in the corporation's strategy and culture.

Approximately 3,500 ESOP companies are majority-owned by the ESOP.
Approximately 2,000 are 100% owned by the ESOP.

About 4% of ESOP companies are unionized.

While ESOPs are found in all industries, more than 25% of them are in the manufacturing sector, followed closely by construction and distributing.
At least 75% of ESOP companies are or were leveraged, meaning they used borrowed funds to acquire the employer securities held by the ESOP trustee.

A majority of ESOP companies have other retirement plans, such as defined benefit pension plans or 401(k) plans, to supplement their ESOP.
Of the 11,000 employee-owned companies nationwide, fewer than 3% were financially distressed when they established their ESOP.
Total assets owned by U.S. ESOPs is estimated to be $600 billion at the end of 2004.

For further information ESOPs check out www.esopassociation.org.