Employee Ownership and the Rewiring of Capitalism for Greater Good
“Intentions don’t scale,” Peter Stavros declared to Dave Alexander Center for Social Capital Founder and President Chris Benguhe during a recent conversation the two had—a simple phrase packed with the kind of weight that defines movements.
As co-head of global private equity at KKR and founder of the nonprofit Ownership Works, Peter isn’t just theorizing about making business better—he’s architecting a model that works.
His vision beautifully aligns with the very heartbeat of Dave Alexander Center for Social Capital: business success rooted in people-first principles, shared prosperity, and human flourishing.
Peter’s story isn’t corporate mythology—it’s personal. His father was a union construction worker in Chicago who paved roads for a living and brought home stories of labor without ownership, ideas without a voice, and effort without reward. That kitchen-table education left a mark.
“My dad didn’t need literal stock options,” Peter told Chris. “He just wanted to be included—have his ideas heard, maybe share in the upside he was helping create. It was about dignity.”
Ownership Works has already helped generate over $8 billion in wealth for working families. That’s not theory, that’s transformation. “We’re just getting started,” Peter says, “and I believe we can create $100 billion. Or more. Why not a trillion over time?”
At Dave Alexander Center for Social Capital, we often say that if you want to make the world a better place through business, it has to make business sense. Peter’s vision delivers.
At the heart of traditional ESOPs is a shift in incentives, one where employees now think like owners. They stay longer. Innovate more. Care deeper. And it shows higher engagement scores, lower quit rates, stronger bottom lines.
But none of this scales without empathetic leadership.
“Ownership isn’t magic,” Peter cautions. “The cultural shift required to make it thrive is hard work. It requires a new kind of leader—empathetic, patient, committed.”
Peter’s team, in partnership with Stanford empathy researcher Jamil Zaki, recently conducted a groundbreaking study correlating CEO empathy with workforce retention and engagement.
The results were stunning: empathy was twice as predictive of positive employee outcomes as any other factor. Better yet, empathy isn’t fixed—it’s trainable. Through initiatives like “empathy gyms,” immersive frontline experiences, and leadership Kaizen, Ownership Works is not just transforming companies—it’s transforming people.
This work is a masterclass in what we call social capital leadership. It proves Adam Smith’s oft-forgotten truth: “There are principles in man’s nature which interest him in the fortune of others.” When that principle is embedded in a company’s DNA, the result is not just profit—it’s purpose.
Takeaways for Leaders
💥 Intentions Don’t Scale—Incentives Do: Employee ownership programs are designed to align with worker and company goals. Engagement skyrockets when employees have skin in the game.
💥 Empathy Is a Competitive Advantage: Companies led by empathetic CEOs are outperforming peers in retention and morale. And yes, empathy can be developed.
💥 Cultural Change Requires Investment: Worker ownership isn’t a plug-and-play solution. It demands communication, trust-building, and authentic engagement.
💥 Social Capital Is the New Bottom Line: The companies that thrive in the next era of capitalism will be those that put people—not just profits—at the center of their strategy.
Peter Stavros and his team are not just promoting a better way of doing business. They’re living it, modeling it, scaling it. In doing so, they are igniting the exact kind of value-driven capitalism The Dave Alexander Center for Social Capital exists to champion.
The movement is here. The future is shared. The time is now.
Stay tuned for our full interview with Peter Stavros at www.socapcenter.com, where we go even deeper into his transformative vision.