In the Company of Owners

There have been a number of slams against stock options by people who think they are at the heart of corporate scandals. This readable and thorough book points out that sharing ownership broadly has been a tremendous benefit to many companies, although a few have abused it. Those of us who have seen companies grow dramatically through the efforts of incentived employees know that options are the best system devised for sharing ownership broadly, and that current attempts to restrict them will do more harm than good for the US economy. This book carefully documents both the benefits and abuses, and should be useful for entrepreneurs who want to build companies, and for regulators who want to really curb abuses while saving the benefits -- and chance for broad based wealth creation -- that employee ownership represents.

This is a very carefully crafted and persuasive book. The authors do a great job of laying out the argument for why sharing ownership broadly with employees is good for companies, shareholders, and employees, while concentrating ownership in just a few executives is a bad idea.The book is especially important now with all the debate going on about stock options, which they point out are just one of the ways companies can share ownership. The book provides the most comprehensive data on this subject to date, so its arguments are not just based on preconceived notions. It deserves a wide audience, especially among corporate decision makers.