Eco entrepreneur gives away his company to his employees
Bob Moore spent his life building up his health food company, Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods. On his 81st birthday, he gave it all away to the people who helped him most -- his employees.
Wed, Mar 03 2010 at 12:24 PM EST
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Photo: ABC News Bob Moore started Bob's Red Mill foods with his wife Charlee in 1978 because he loved healthy food and old-world technologies like stone grinding. His 209-employee company sells hundreds of stone-ground products from flours to bread mixes to cereals and was estimated in 2004 to be worth more than $24 million. The company has stated that they've grown at an annual rate of between 20 and 30 percent every year since.
On Bob's 81st birthday, he sprung the news on employees gathered for his party that he was giving them the company. The whole thing.
It's not surprising to hear that Moore's company has been bombarded with buyout offers over the past few years. He could have easily sold out and walked away a very rich man, but he decided to go a different route and setup an employee stock-ownership plan in which the company stock is placed into a trust in benefit of the employees. They receive money based on the company performance when they quit or retire. You can read more about the plan on the Bob's Red Mill website and in this MNN story and on their blog.
Well played sir.
Here's a clip from ABC News about Moore's gift:
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Comments
Stan Ginsberg
03/07/2010 16:52 PM
there's a saying in the financial planning business: when you want to sell your company and can't find a buyer, create an ESOP. as a separate entity, ESOPs buy the owner's stock, for which they often borrow from banks or other lenders. at the same time, a properly designed ESOP will name the owner as the trustee. Result: owner sells stock to ESOP, gets cash in hand (if it's borrowed, the ESOP is liable) and typically only pays capital gains rate of 15% on the profits. at the same time, the.... More
Chelle Blaszczyk
03/05/2010 13:45 PM
dj, Paul Stitt didn't end up giving the company to the employees, he sold it himself to Alpha Baking Company. And yes, we've made some changes since Alpha has owned it; but they were things we needed to do. I should know, I'm Paul Stitt's daughter.
Duke
04/06/2011 19:29 PM
If the employees ended up with the Company after your Dad sold it
Your dad is awesome
dj
03/03/2010 14:00 PM
I love Bob's Red Mill. But, I hope they don't end up like Natural Ovens. Paul Stitt gave the company to the employees and they turned around and sold it. It's never been the same.
