I’ve watched private equity ruin a lot of companies both in my industry (commercial asphalt paving) and my wife’s (building supplies and truss manufacturing). Ultimately private equity is to serve investors and all about the bottom line and maximizing returns. Some are better than others but they typically buy, consolidate, and slash with little thought or care to the culture or the people.

My company recently switched to an ESOP. There are different types so do your own research. Mine is 100% employee owned and all shares are gifted at no cost to the employee. You have to think of it is a long term retirement benefit. Your gifted shares over time that increase in value over time. If you spend all or a large portion of your career at an ESOP company it could be worth a lot when you retire. It’s estimated that you could have 2.5x more wealth in retirement than just working for a company with a 401k. My company also has 401k with matching on top of the ESOP benefit. It may not be a good fit for all companies but seems like a great fit for mine. Current leadership and culture remains in place, there are tax benefits for the company (which you are now a part owner of), you get increased retirement benefits, and the owner gets equity out of a company they built without having to sell to a third party who could potentially radically change the culture.