Mark Cuban says companies can reduce wealth inequality by giving every employee an ownership stake, not limiting stock awards to founders and senior executives.
Key Points:
- Cuban said workers at every level should receive company equity.
- He proposed tax incentives for businesses that distribute stock broadly.
- About 300 Broadcast.com employees became millionaires after its 1999 sale.
Mark Cuban Equity Plan
Cuban made the argument on a recent episode of the What It Takes podcast, saying every worker, from a janitor to a CEO, should benefit when a company gains value.
“I would like to see it so that every single CEO/founder/entrepreneur does what I did, which was to give equity to every single employee,” he said.
Cuban has followed that approach in businesses he sold.
He said employees received payouts after each major transaction, including the 1999 sale of Broadcast.com to Yahoo.
Yahoo valued the deal at $5.7 billion, including $4.8 billion in common stock and $900 million in stock options. About 300 of Broadcast.com’s 330 employees reportedly became millionaires through their holdings.
Cuban said ownership gives workers a direct financial interest in long-term performance. “The way you’re going to reduce income inequality for anybody who works with somebody is making sure they get shares of stock, and then they benefit,” he said.
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Employee Stock Incentives
Cuban also proposed using the federal tax code to encourage broader equity distribution. Under his approach, companies could qualify for lower corporate tax rates by awarding employees stock at the same proportional rate offered to the CEO.
He gave a 10% example. A CEO receiving stock worth 10% of a $1 million cash salary would get $100,000 in equity, while an employee earning $50,000 would receive $5,000 in stock.
“That will change the game,” Cuban said.
He has promoted similar policies for years, arguing that meaningful ownership can strengthen commitment and reward employees for helping build enterprise value. His position reflects his experience at Broadcast.com, where stock options converted a corporate acquisition into substantial personal wealth for most of the workforce.
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