Product innovation firm was ideal candidate for employee ownership due to its unique culture, track record of growth and profitability, and long-term client relationships
TXI, the strategy and product innovation firm, announced its transition to full employee ownership through a new employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Together, all TXI employees now own 100 percent of TXI through the ESOP.
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With an initial ownership group no longer working in the business, TXI elected to transition to an ESOP after evaluating a number of other options that included sales to private equity firms and strategic partners. The firm’s base of long-term clients, strong employee retention rate, and history of growth and profitability created an opportunity to align its business incentives with the interests of employees and clients.
“When founders simply sell their companies to the highest bidder, they leave their clients and employees to navigate profound cultural changes, unfamiliar leadership hierarchies, and shifting business objectives all on their own,” said Josh Golden, founder and chair at TXI. “By transitioning to an ESOP, TXI keeps its culture intact and aligns its business interests with the interests of the people that made us successful in the first place.”
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The transaction closed in December 2022 with no changes to the existing leadership structure, and current employees were immediately granted ownership shares. On an annual basis, TXI will allocate additional shares to employees as an automatic employment benefit intended for long-term wealth creation.
“The tenets of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) are core to TXI’s culture, and shifting to an ESOP ensures those values won’t be compromised under new ownership,” said Claire Podulka, Chief of Staff at TXI. “By keeping the cultural foundation for our firm’s success in place, TXI will continue to experience sustainable growth that benefits all employees and clients.”
TXI was founded in 2002 as a Chicago-based custom software development company and, as it grew, shifted into the remote product innovation consultancy it is today. TXI builds engaging digital products that transform businesses, and its growth was propelled by a commitment to engineering excellence, continuous discovery, and research-driven design thinking.
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