As more US business owners retire many are selling up to their staff

Breaking news from the markets: As more US business owners retire many are selling up to their staff6 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleChris MarshallBusiness reporterSoftstar ShoesStaff at Software Shoes in Oregon now own the businessStaff at Softstar Shoes in Oregon have discovered a newfound enthusiasm for eking out resources and growing profits. It started in January when the shoemaker became owned by its 30-strong workforce. Former sole owner and chief executive Tricia Salcido had decided to sell the business to the employees, because at age 56 she is starting to plan for her future retirement.

Salcido, who for next few years is staying on as chief financial officer, says that colleagues are now offering lots of suggestions for how to best run aspects of the business. "I'm getting personal emails from employees saying, 'well, have you thought about this idea? These are business insights that weren't forthcoming before!

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"Salcido is among a small but growing number of business owners in the US said to be choosing to entrust their ventures to employees, rather than sell to an outside buyer. One 2025 study said that up to 600 US firms are now being sold to their workers per year, with investment funds available to help finance the deals rising 78% to $865m last year from $500m in 2024, an indication of more businesses making the transfer. As well as motivating staff – who share in the risks and rewards of ownership – research shows that employee-owned companies can be more productive, less likely to make staff redundant, and that they pay higher wages.

For Salcido, it was a way to preserve local jobs and prevent her firm's artisan shoemaking from being taken out of the US – which she was convinced would happen under a cost-cutting corporate buyer. "It's something you put your life's work into… most small business owners really care," she says. Softstar ShoesTricia Salcido has sold her business to her staff as she eyes future retirementA huge number of other US entrepreneurs are in the same boat as Salcido – they are approaching retirement age, and therefore having to decide what to do with their businesses.

The "baby boomer" owners of about six million American small and medium-sized companies will retire between now and 2035, says a report this year from business consulting firm McKinsey. Some commentators have dubbed this a "silver tsunami". McKinsey adds that this mass retirement will result in "a once-in-a-generation wave of ownership transitions".

Ethan Rouen, associate professor at Harvard Business School, says: "I don't think a week goes by where I don't talk to an owner who is looking to sell their business. " Their grown-up children often aren't interested in taking on the family venture, he adds.

Economists are analysing what the news means for the markets.