Not really, but technically yes. "Employee-owned" is being used in a specific way here; it's a specific form of ownership governance. Most often the shares ar

Not really, but technically yes. "Employee-owned" is being used in a specific way here; it's a specific form of ownership governance. Most often the shares are owned by employees via a trust, which the business funds. None (or mostly none!) of the stock options available to Amazon or Google staff are useful in terms of controlling the business. When someone is using the term "employee-owned business," they are generally referring to a business in which employees have actual control, not just a profit-sharing certificate. Of course, any publicly-traded company can be 'employee-owned' to whatever degree the employees buy shares. But this term usually indicates something else.