Mark Cuban believes workers deserve to get rich alongside their CEOs. The billionaire investor and “Shark Tank” star responded to data showing billionaire wealth increased by $33 trillion since 2015 with a pointed question: why aren’t companies required to give employees the same percentage of company stock that CEOs receive?
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“You know who is funding the increase, particularly lately? Retail investors. 401ks [sic],” Cuban wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “The better question is, why are we not giving incentives to companies to require them to give shares in their companies to all employees, at the same percentage of cash earnings as the CEO?”
Cuban is worth $6 billion himself after selling Broadcast.com to Yahoo for $5.7 billion in 1999. He knows how wealth creation works, and he thinks employees should benefit from it too.
Here are five legitimate ways companies can make workers wealthy alongside executives right now with existing tools.
Many companies already offer ESPPs, though Cuban argues the caps are too restrictive. These programs work, but the contribution limits prevent employees from building significant wealth even when company stock soars. A $21,250 annual cap means even if stock doubles, you’ve only made $21,250 in gains that year. Nice, but not life-changing.
Cuban’s proposal would remove these caps and tie employee stock grants to the same percentage CEOs receive, making wealth accumulation proportional across the company.
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Companies can grant stock directly to employees without requiring purchase. This differs from ESPPs because workers receive equity as compensation rather than buying it at discount.
Tech companies pioneered this approach with restricted stock units (RSUs) that vest over time, keeping employees invested in company success long-term. When Facebook went public, thousands of employees became millionaires through stock grants awarded years earlier.
Cuban practiced this at Broadcast.com. He said 300 out of 330 employees became millionaires when he sold the company. That’s not from salary, it’s from equity ownership distributed broadly across the workforce.
According to Cuban, he has “paid out bonuses to every employee who’d been there for more than a year” in every business he’s sold. At his first company, MicroSolutions, he paid out 20% to 80 employees. At the Dallas Mavericks, CNBC reported, he distributed more than $35 million to staff.
Profit-sharing differs from stock grants because it distributes cash based on company performance rather than equity ownership. The advantage is immediate liquidity; employees get cash they can use now rather than stock they might sell later.
The disadvantage is missing out on long-term appreciation. Employees who got cash bonuses from Cuban’s ventures did well, but those who held stock in companies that kept growing did even better.
Stock options give employees the right to buy company stock at a set price (the strike price) regardless of current market value. If the company grows and stock price increases significantly above the strike price, employees profit from the difference.
Early startup employees often receive substantial option grants as part of compensation packages. When companies like Uber or Airbnb went public, employees who exercised options early and held shares became millionaires.
The risk is that options expire worthless if company stock never exceeds the strike price. They also require capital to exercise, which not all employees have available.
ESOPs create retirement accounts funded by company stock rather than diversified investments. Companies contribute stock to employee accounts annually, and employees own shares that vest over time.
ESOPs work especially well at private companies where there’s no public market for shares. Employees build wealth as the company grows, then cash out when they retire or the company sells.
The downside is concentration risk; your retirement depends entirely on one company’s success. Diversified 401(k)s spread risk across hundreds of companies, while ESOPs put all eggs in one basket.
Cuban argues wealth accumulation by CEOs isn’t the problem; it’s failing to extend the same opportunity to workers.
“Compassion and capitalism — not greed — are what can make this country far greater,” he told Fortune. “Multiple studies show that when everyone owns stocks, the results are better. Which matches my experiences with multiple companies.”
His logic is straightforward: when employees own equity, they think like owners. They care about long-term success, not just collecting paychecks. That alignment benefits everyone, including shareholders and executives. Cuban also believes wealthy CEOs have greater responsibility to help others.
“The value of those dollars become much greater, to you, and so many others, when you use your business, or other expertise to help others,” he said on X, refuting Johns Hopkins professor Ge Bai’s assertion that greed is good.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Mark Cuban Thinks Your Boss Should Make You Rich — 5 Legit Ways It Can Happen
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