Mark Cuban: Solution to income inequality is giving every worker, from CEO to janitor, company stock - Fortune

What the report says

Fortune reported that billionaire investor and entrepreneur Mark Cuban is urging companies to give equity to all employees, arguing that stock ownership should extend from top executives to frontline workers. In a recent episode of the “What It Takes” podcast by Unmoderated News, Cuban said CEOs, founders and entrepreneurs should follow his approach of granting equity to every worker so employees can share in a company’s upside.

The article framed Cuban’s comments against the example of SpaceX, where Fortune said a former welder’s shares rose sharply in value after the company’s initial public offering, citing Wall Street Journal reporting. Cuban pointed to his own record at Broadcast.com, where he said 330 employees received stock before Yahoo acquired the company for $5.7 billion in 1999, and at MicroSolutions, where he said workers received equity and cash bonuses.

Cuban also suggested a policy mechanism: governments could encourage broad-based employee equity by offering lower corporate tax rates when companies award workers the same percentage of stock relative to cash pay as executives receive. In his example, if a CEO receives stock equal to 10% of salary, a lower-paid employee would receive the same percentage of their own pay in equity.

Fortune noted that Cuban has previously supported a $20 federal minimum wage and has described his philosophy as “compassionate capitalism.” The article also cited research indicating employee ownership may reduce wealth gaps, improve retention and align incentives, while contrasting such proposals with rising concern over executive-worker pay disparities in the United States.