Employee Ownership: How Do We Give Employees a Stake in Their Business?

A discussion of a business model that proponents believe will enhance equity and improve the welfare of all employees including blue-collar and factory floor workers. Pete Stavros, co-head of global private equity at KKR (a leading alternative investments firm with more than $500 billion in assets under management) and founder/chairman of the nonprofit Ownership Works, was our guest. His nonprofit seeks to help companies create and implement broad-based ownership programs that promote wealth creation for low-income workers.

Stavros explained why he believes business leaders and investors should care about employee ownership. He also discussed the operational challenges his employee ownership model faces, including the design of optimal equity-sharing structures, the definition of contract terms that promote equitable compensation, and the identification of mechanisms that strengthen employee loyalty. The conversation included a discussion of broader policy concerns.

This event was co-sponsored by the Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance.

Speaker

Pete Stavros (New York) joined KKR in 2005 and is co-head of global private equity. This includes oversight of $165 billion of assets across Europe, Asia, and the Americas and covers traditional large and mid-cap private equity, impact, core, and growth equity.

Prior to this role, Mr. Stavros served as co-head of the firm's Americas private equity platform. He is a member of several investment and management committees at KKR and has also served as co-chair of the firm’s global Inclusion and Diversity Council.

As an investor, he has helped lead a number of successful investments across sectors and sizes, including HCA Healthcare, Nielsen, Gardner Denver / Ingersoll Rand, Capsugel, Capital Safety, Hyperion, Flow Control Group, Charter Next Generation, Minnesota Rubber and Plastics, Geostabilization International, Crosby Group and CHI Overhead Doors.

Prior to becoming co-head of Americas private equity, Mr. Stavros led the Industrials industry team, where he pioneered an innovative employee engagement and ownership model. This approach has been successfully implemented at a number of companies and has positively impacted tens of thousands of employees.

Mr. Stavros is the founder and chairman of Ownership Works, a nonprofit focused on broadening corporate ownership and enhancing the financial resiliency of the workforce.

Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Stavros was an investor with GTCR Golder Rauner, where he was an investor in the healthcare sector. He holds a B.S. in Chemistry, magna cum laude, from Duke University and an M.B.A. with high distinction, Baker Scholar, from Harvard Business School.

Student leader moderators

Elle Kang, MBA ‘23 and Ryan Zepeda, MBA ‘24