04:50 PM EDT, 09/24/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Peter Stavros wants more employees to own stake in the companies they work for, and the KKR (KKR) executive recently organized a new group promoting Employee Stock Ownership Plans as a way to better engage employees in their jobs.

"Our goal is simple: To dramatically expand the number of new ESOPs formed each year." Stavros said in an introductory video on the Expanding ESOPs website.

Stavros, the co-head of KKR's global private-equity business, argues ESOPs address an issue of basic fairness, and described employee-ownership programs as "incredible wealth-making tool."

The group, in particular, is looking to attract larger firms, acknowledging the Expanding ESOPs website it will need to convince the Congress to update the 1974 legislation that authorized the program. Lawmakers need to adapt the original measure to better accommodate large corporations, but it will be equally important the new legislation also includes safeguards protecting employee stakes, the group explained.

"Congress saw ESOPs as an ideal way to help workers participate in wealth creation and to help companies build stronger cultures too," Stavros said in his video. "And if applied to all of corporate America, ESOPs have the potential to create truly shared prosperity and a stronger economy."