[CptFribble]

think of how shareholders drive a company's behavior, and how much of most public corporations bad behavior is generating dividends or increased share price for large institutional shareholders, because the leadership (board) is voted for by those same shareholders

now imagine if a company's only shareholders are the employees who work there. how much different would a company act if the people to whom the leadership are responsible are the employees themselves?

[dhc02]

All of this is true, and on top of that, at least in the case of ESOP plans like the one at Bob's Red Mill, the outstanding stock of the company is held in a trust and distributed to employees as part of a benefits package over time, sort of like a 401k they don't have to pay anything to contribute to.