ESOP
Also called: employee stock ownership plan, employee ownership
An ESOP is a retirement plan that invests primarily in the employer's own stock, often used to transition ownership when a founder exits. Employees get a stake without buying it and the seller gets tax advantages. The risk is undiluted concentration: salary, job and retirement all depend on one company, which is precisely the exposure Enron employees discovered when the shares and the payroll vanished together.