[ae_keji]

Honestly I'm surprised this doesn't happen more. While yes, it was a very kind gesture by Ulukaya to give his employees partial ownership, it also makes each of them much more involved in the long term success of the company. Putting a company on the stock market is selling it to people who are only interested in earnings for a few quarters at most, while employees will have interest in not only the growth of the company, but the sustainability of the operation.

At least that's my impression of employee owned businesses, it seems like a smart economic move.

[taneq]

Not to mention that hiring and training an employee is a significant investment. Losing a bunch of employees at once, probably each with some irreplaceable domain-specific knowledge, will cost the company in the long run.