The National Center for Employee Ownership (“NCEO”), a nonprofit research and membership organization supporting the employee ownership community since 1981, is pleased to announce that Liberty Military Housing (Liberty) has ranked the 82nd largest majority employee-owned company on its 2025 Employee Ownership 100 list, increasing its ranking from 87th last year.
Since becoming an employee-owned company in 2020, Liberty’s ESOP has become a defining part of its culture and operations. Unlike traditional corporate structures, Liberty’s employees are direct stakeholders in the company’s success, which strengthens accountability, pride, and performance at every level. Employee ownership ensures that decisions are made with long-term impact in mind, supporting Liberty’s mission, the military families it serves, and the employee-owners who make that service possible.
“Improving our ranking on the NCEO’s Employee Ownership 100 list is a meaningful reflection of the commitment our employee-owners bring to serving military families every day,” said Philip Rizzo, CEO, Liberty Military Housing. “As an employee-owned organization, we’re not driven by the priorities of a large corporation. We’re motivated by the responsibility we have to military families and to one another. The success of our ESOP depends on our ability to meet and exceed customer satisfaction goals, because when our residents thrive, our company thrives.”
The NCEO Employee Ownership 100 list includes the largest broad-based employee-owned companies in the US that the NCEO could verify using governmental or other credible third-party sources. To be on the list, companies must be at least 50% employee-owned; most on the list are 100%. Collectively, these broad-based plans cover over 642,000 people.
Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) across all industries and sizes have a long history of delivering tangible benefits to companies, employees, and customers. For customers, ESOPs often result in higher service quality, greater accountability, and stronger relationships, as employee-owners are motivated to ensure satisfaction and loyalty. In addition, ESOPs create a viable model for business succession, supporting continuity and stability that benefits all stakeholders. The latest data from the Department of Labor shows total contributions to ESOP accounts were $107 billion in the latest plan year.