Mark Cuban proposes a solution to income inequality by advocating for employee stock ownership across companies. He emphasizes that rewarding all employees with company shares, from CEOs to custodians, can foster a fairer wealth distribution. Drawing from his experience at Broadcast.com, where he made employees millionaires through stock options, Cuban highlights the benefits of such models, including increased productivity and lower turnover rates. He also suggests that governments could incentivize this practice by offering tax benefits to companies embracing employee equity. Research indicates that broader employee ownership could significantly close the wealth gap in the U.S.

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Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

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Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

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Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it’s to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

Sasha Rogelberg

By Sasha Rogelberg Sasha Rogelberg

Reporter Down Arrow Button Icon

Sasha Rogelberg

By Sasha Rogelberg Sasha Rogelberg

Reporter Down Arrow Button Icon

July 20, 2026, 1:35 PM ET

Mark Cuban, in front of a purple background, has his mouth open and is looking to his left.

Mark Cuban has advocated for a $20 minimum wage and has other forms of increasing compensation for employees.Nathan Laine/Bloomberg—Getty Images

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Following SpaceX’s blockbuster $1.77 trillion initial public offering, Juan Hernandez, a former welder for the aerospace and satellite company, saw his wealth balloon overnight as a result of his stake in the firm. Hernandez, who joined SpaceXin 2015 earning $28 per hour, now holds an estimated $880,000 in shares following the company’s IPO, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to billionaire investor Mark Cuban, this model of employees owning shares of the companies they work for should be the norm, not the exception.

How would Cuban’s vision for more company stock ownership play out?

Amid a rise of democratic socialist politicians like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani championing affordability platforms, Cuban—a believer in “ compassionate capitalism”—has argued a free-market economy can generate similar solutions to those generated by government-owned social services. One such example is his launching of the pharmaceutical company Cost Plus Drugs in 2022, which is able to slash the cost of prescription medications by selling mostly generic products without the typical middlemen of Pharmacy Benefit Managers.

He’s taking the same mechanism to the income side as well, believing he found a viable way to encourage more companies to adopt his employee-ownership philosophy. For example, Cuban explained, governments can incentivize CEOs to give every employee the same percentage of stock warrants, options, or other equities by dangling the carrot of a lower corporate tax rate than the set 21%. In other words, if a CEO receives a stock valued at 10% of their cash compensation, workers should likewise receive 10% in stock of their own earnings.

“So 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,” Cuban said.

How viable is Cuban’s philosophy?

Research suggests employee-ownership can be an effective means of closing the wealth gap. A 2021 Harvard Business School study citing government data found that if all private firms in the U.S. became 30% employee-owned, household wealth in the country would effectively double. In contrast, the wealth of the richest Americans would decrease as a result of this model, with the top 1% of wealth holders seeing an average 14% decrease in their net wealth.

Allowing employees to hold company equity is also associated with increased productivity and less turnover, and a 2004 Rutgers University study found companies offering employee ownership stakes of at least 5% have a higher likelihood of survival than those without the benefit, which researchers attributed to greater employment security.

“When you align everyone’s incentives with a common goal, everyone will work harder to achieve that goal,” Ethan Rouen, a Harvard Business School professor of business administration, said in an interview for the college about Harvard’s research. “When you have an equity stake, all of a sudden you have a claim on the upside, and so that incentivizes you to work harder to increase that upside. It is something that has the potential to grow the pie and create wealth for everyone involved.”

The Fortune 500 Innovation Forum will convene Fortune 500 executives, U.S. policy officials, top founders, and thought leaders to help define what’s next for the American economy, Nov. 16-17 in Detroit. Apply here.

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By Sasha RogelbergReporter

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Sasha Rogelberg is a reporter and former editorial fellow on the news desk at Fortune, covering retail and the intersection of business and popular culture.

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