Ownership Works, a U.S. nonprofit established with funding from the global private equity firm KKR, officially launched its first overseas office, Ownership Works Japan, in Tokyo.
On the 27th, KKR said, "This Japan office launch is the first step for Ownership Works to spread a shared ownership culture around the world."
Ownership Works launched in the United States in 2022. It has put into practice ways for all employees to receive equity compensation tied to corporate performance through collaboration between corporations and investors. To date, it has distributed about $1.3 billion in equity to roughly 250,000 employees at 167 corporations. An additional $10 billion in equity compensation is underway.
Pete Stavros, KKR's global private equity co-head and the founder and CEO of Ownership Works, explained why the first overseas office was set up in Tokyo, saying, "Japan is a country that showed the world the value of 'Kaizen' through shop-floor-driven innovation," and added, "Ownership broadens participation and creates a virtuous cycle in which individual effort leads to rewards; in that sense, it can be considered a kind of capital Kaizen (Kaizen, improvement)."
He added, "Tokyo will be the starting point of a network that will spread worldwide, and it will be a meaningful stage to demonstrate the potential of the shared ownership model, combining a deep history of empowering workers and labor-management cooperation with active government support."