There are many myths about ESOPs — that they’re complicated or that once within its structure a company owner loses control, or that banks won’t lend to them. David Solomon, a member at Levenfeld Pearlstein, is here to bust those myths. In this interview, David, who in 2009, founded and currently serves as the head of the firm's Employee Stock Ownership Plan practice, sets the record straight on what an ESOP is, and what it isn’t.
Here's an excerpt:
“Getting stock into the hands of the employees, giving them information, treating them like owners, having them adopt an ownership mentality does improve how the business performs. And it's a really nice thing to see when you have companies that are worried about selling to third parties and what happens to their business. A lot of times these ESOP companies are the biggest employer in town. They build soccer fields. They're involved in the community. To see all of those things be able to be preserved, and then also have employees be given a chance to get these retirement benefits in the form of stock that have their fingerprints all over it, to be able to affect how their retirement is funded and provide what we call a dignified retirement to employee owners, it really does translate, if you think through it just intuitively, it does translate into a much higher-performing company.” - David Solomon, Levenfeld Pearlstein.
You can catch the full conversation on the podcast.
