Who is Louis Kelso?
The ESOP concept is based on the theories of capital ownership developed by Dr. Louis O. Kelso, a lawyer-economist-investment banker. Kelso reasoned that only through widespread capital ownership could modern economies provide for more equitable distribution of wealth. Kelso is justly recognized as the visionary who developed the first ESOPs, and who worked with U.S. Senator Russell Long (retired) to get them written into Federal law in 1974. Historical Background According to Kelso, the concentration of wealth in the U.S. economy results from the fact that capital producing assets are owned by a small minority of individuals. (Studies conducted by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, the Federal Reserve, and the General Accounting Office have confirmed that nearly 50% of the privately owned stock in the U.S. is owned by 1% of the population). In an economy in which capital is inexorably replacing labor as the means by which wealth is produced, Kelso emphasized the importance of p
