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This week, in episode 137, Jay Goltz explains how he got interested in selling a percentage of his business to his employees and why he quickly lost interest once he started reading books, attending seminars, and talking to accountants and lawyers who specialize in employee stock ownership plans. To Jay\u2019s ear, they all made ESOPs sound expensive, complicated, and risky. This was not something he needed to do. So why go to the trouble? Why take the risk? But he kept asking questions, and over time, he sensed that many of the problems he was being warned about didn\u2019t have to be problems. As of now, he\u2019s pretty much concluded that an ESOP could help him secure retirement for his employees while generating more profit for his business. In fact, he says, \u201cI'm confident I can make more owning 70 percent of the company than I am now owning 100 percent.\u201d But he still has a few lingering questions, which is why we invited Corey Rosen to join the conversation. Corey helped draft the legislation that created ESOPs, he's the founder of the National Center for Employee Ownership, and he literally wrote the book on how the plans work. All of which led to an inevitable question for both Jay and Corey: If ESOPs are so great, why are there so few of them?

Show Notes:
Here\u2019s Corey Rosen\u2019s most recent book, written with John Case: \u201cOwnership: Reinventing Companies, Capitalism, and Who Owns What.\u201d
Here\u2019s a previous book Corey wrote with Scott Rodrick: \u201cUnderstanding ESOPs.\u201d
And here\u2019s a book written by Jack Stack and Bo Burlingham: \u201cA Stake in the Outcome.\u201d