Ask an expert: share schemes

Question

I am the CEO of a rapidly growing company.

All the shares are currently held by me and my two co-founders.

We are hopeful that within a couple of years our company will be sufficiently profitable either to be sold or to be floated on the Stock Exchange.

We have over 200 employees and would like them to share in our success but we would not feel comfortable with any of them becoming shareholders while the company remains private.

How can we reconcile these two objectives as tax-effectively as possible? 

Answer

Since you and your two colleagues wish to remain the only shareholders while the...