Overview
Owning equity in a successful company can make a material impact on one’s financial well-being and ability to grow wealth. Historically, equity ownership has been concentrated in the hands of the few, and those few tend to have similar demographic backgrounds. We believe that such concentration is one of the primary factors fueling the exponential growth in the wealth gap.
In response to this concentration, the #ANGELS called for a consistent measurement of diversity in equity ownership in 2018. With over one million equity owners and $1 trillion USD in equity value, Carta is the only data provider that can consistently report on equity ownership at scale. Since 2018, we have partnered with the #ANGELS to measure annually through the Table Stakes report.
To create the most robust dataset possible, Carta has added the ability to self report gender, race & ethnicity, and parental status directly in the application itself. This year, thanks to our users who voluntarily and confidentially self-reported demographic data, we have enough data to analyze equity distribution by race and ethnicity in addition to gender.
What we know is that there are four categories of corporate stakeholders that earn the lion’s share of the equity:
- Founders
- Senior executives
- Early employees
- Technical employees
Our data show that women and People of Color are underrepresented in each one of these categories. Sadly, there has not been meaningful change in representation since 2018 when we began this study. But what is not measured cannot be managed, so Carta is committed to continuing to do this analysis and provide the resulting information publicly every year.
To this end, we recognize that identity intersects across gender, race & ethnicity, and therefore our findings may not fully represent the experiences of People of Color and non-binary individuals. As we continue to receive more self-reported data, we will work to incorporate intersectionality into our analysis.
The work to move these numbers will take the entire ecosystem. Included in this report are companies dedicated to helping the ecosystem move these numbers, whether it be through compensation benchmarking, job training and placement, or creating more inclusive environments.
As is often the case, education is another barrier to change. As one step toward change, Carta has developed an equity education program and is committed to providing that training to 100,000 employees across the country. Learn more about how you can participate for yourself or your organization at https://carta.com/resources/equity-essentials/.