Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban says the best way to tackle growing income inequality is to give every employee—from CEO to janitor—company stock at the same percentage rate of their compensation. Speaking on the “What It Takes” podcast released last week, Cuban outlined a vision where ownership, not just higher wages, becomes the path to lasting worker wealth.
“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,” Cuban said. “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.”
Cuban has built his philosophy on lived experience. When Yahoo acquired his media company Broadcast.com for $5.7 billion in 1999, he had already given stock to all 330 employees. The result: about 300 of them became millionaires, according to Cuban’s own account shared on the podcast.
The income gap that motivates Cuban’s argument is stark. In 2024, S&P 500 CEOs made 285 times more than the median pay of their workers, up from 268 times in 2023, according to the AFL-CIO. Chief executives earned an average of $18.9 million in total compensation, a 7% increase year-over-year. Meanwhile, global CEO pay increased 20 times faster than worker pay in 2025, with CEO compensation rising 11% while average worker pay increased just 0.5%, according to data from Oxfam and the International Trade Union Confederation.
Cuban’s proposal isn’t simply to hand out cash. Instead, he suggests governments use the tax code as an incentive. Companies that give all employees the same percentage of stock—relative to their cash compensation—as they give CEOs could keep the current 21% corporate tax rate. Those that don’t would face higher taxes.
To illustrate the concept, Cuban offered a concrete example: “If the CEO gets $100,000 worth of stock because they make $1 million in cash, and the janitor makes $50,000, then they deserve the same percentage in stock, and that will change the game.” The proposal treats equity distribution as a matter of proportionality, not absolute dollar amounts.
Research suggests employee ownership can be a powerful tool for wealth-building. A 2021 Harvard Business School study found that if all private firms in the U.S. became 30% employee-owned, household wealth in the country would effectively double. The same study noted that the wealth of the richest Americans would decrease under such a model, with the top 1% of wealth holders seeing an average 14% decrease in net wealth. Employee-ownership stakes of at least 5% are also associated with higher firm survival rates and increased productivity, according to research cited by Harvard.
Cuban’s argument has gained new resonance following SpaceX’s blockbuster initial public offering in June 2026. The company’s $1.77 trillion IPO created at least 4,400 new millionaires, including former welder Juan Hernandez, who joined SpaceX in 2015 earning $28 per hour. Hernandez’s 6,500 shares are now worth approximately $880,000, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal. That outcome—ordinary workers building significant wealth through company ownership—exemplifies the model Cuban is advocating.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, has similarly championed employee stock ownership. “I’ve always had the philosophy that everyone at the company should receive stock in the company, so that they can participate in the upside of the company,” Musk told Texas Governor Greg Abbott in July 2026.
Cuban’s calls for broader equity distribution come as a widening wage gap has become a focal point in debates over economic inequality. The proposal represents a market-based alternative to wealth taxes or wage mandates—one that aligns worker incentives with company success and shifts the wealth-building mechanism from salary alone to ownership stakes.
Sources
- Fortune — Mark Cuban’s statement on employee stock ownership, SpaceX IPO creating millionaires, Harvard Business School research on employee ownership, CEO pay data, and Oxfam/ITUC wage data
- Barchart — Cuban’s tax incentive proposal, the CEO-to-janitor percentage example, and employee ownership benefits
- Business Insider — Cuban’s podcast appearance, his Broadcast.com millionaire-making example, and global CEO pay disparities
- AFL-CIO — S&P 500 CEO-to-worker pay ratio (285-to-1 in 2024, up from 268-to-1 in 2023) and average CEO compensation ($18.9 million in 2024, a 7% increase)
- Wall Street Journal — SpaceX employee millionaires including Juan Hernandez’s share count and estimated wealth gain
