Responsible ownership

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Responsible ownership is a special form of ownership by companies . Responsible ownership companies are not held by "property owners", but by those who hold the company in trust for a limited period of time. Around 200 companies in Germany that employ around 1.2 million people are owned by responsibility. This includes companies such as Ecosia.org , Bosch , Zeiss and Alnatura .

In Denmark the concept is more widespread, around 60% of the value of the Danish equity index is accounted for by responsible ownership.

Principles of Responsible Ownership

Responsible ownership ensures two things legally

  1. Independence : Control over the company (majority of voting rights) always remains in the hands of people who are internally connected to the company and who support the company's values ​​in terms of its long-term development. There is no automatic inheritance and the company can no longer be traded as a speculative asset. It remains in the "family of values".
  2. Asset lock: Profits are not seen as an end in themselves, but as a means to an end : Responsible ownership anchors in a legally binding manner that corporate assets are not the personal assets of the responsible owner. The company's profits and assets are largely kept free for corporate development - they serve the company's purpose, are reinvested or donated to the public benefit. The “responsible owners” are not “property owners”.

Expansion of family understanding

In essence, ownership of responsibility is tantamount to expanding the understanding of family business, with the difference that the value of independence and the long-term nature of corporate responsibility is no longer tied to a genetic owner family, but above all to a "relationship of skills and values", in short: to the owners of responsibility.

Legal implementation of responsible ownership

Many companies, such as B. Zeiss or Alnatura use (non-profit) foundations to implement this understanding of ownership. However, foundation companies whose foundations are not charitable or have private beneficiaries - that is, who have property owners and not responsibility owners, must be distinguished from responsible ownership. The latter are mainly used by family businesses as “family foundations”.

Demand for a new legal form

Today, companies wishing to implement responsible ownership have limited legal options. The legal forms of the GmbH or AG automatically turn the company into private assets, a real “asset lock” and thus real responsibility ownership can only be achieved through complex legal detours. That is why many entrepreneurs are calling for a new legal form specifically for companies that want to implement responsible ownership. The main topic of discussion is the creation of a new legal form variant of the GmbH, in which the legal regulation for the inheritance and sale of business shares is modified.

Possibilities of implementing responsible ownership

Companies that implement responsible ownership in today's legal framework often use either the "double foundation model" or the "veto share model."

Responsible ownership companies

Germany

The approximately 200 companies in responsible ownership in Germany include: B. ZF Friedrichshafen , Mahle , Zeiss , Bosch , Alnatura , Globus , Ecosia.org , Soulbottles, Raccoon, Waldorfshop, Sonett, Voelkel , Wala , Elobau, Arche natural products.

Denmark

In Denmark, thanks to a better legal framework, around 1000 companies are owned by responsibility. These include B. Carlsberg , Novo Nordisk or Lundbeck .

Promotion of responsible ownership

Several organizations sponsor responsible ownership companies, promote research, invest in responsible ownership companies, and advise those companies. This includes:

  • Purpose Foundation
  • Responsible Ownership Foundation
  • GTREU e. V.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Foundation Responsible Ownership: Responsible Ownership Overviewg. Retrieved October 20, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b The search engine that plants trees. September 27, 2019, accessed October 20, 2019 .
  3. ^ A b Denner, Fehrenbach and Bosch: "A dramatic and painful affair": What Bosch learned from the diesel crisis. Retrieved October 20, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b c Purpose Foundation: Responsible ownership. (PDF) In: Book - Purpose - Responsible Property. Retrieved October 20, 2019 .
  5. ↑ a b Alnatura property conference profile. Ownership Conference, accessed October 20, 2019 .
  6. ↑ a b Steen Thomsen: The Danish industrial foundations . 1st ed. DJØF Publishing, Copenhagen 2017, ISBN 978-87-574-3689-1 (English).
  7. ↑ Guest commentary: Germany must promote responsible ownership. Retrieved October 20, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Armin Steuerungagel, Dr. Till Wagner, Benjamin Böhm: Policy Brief - Responsible Property. (PDF) Working group of self-owned companies, October 20, 2019, accessed on October 20, 2019 .
  9. ↑ 35 entrepreneurs meet with Minister for Economic Affairs Altmaier and demand a new legal form. Retrieved October 20, 2019 .
  10. ↑ SEND eV: Social Entrepreneurship Monitor 2018. (PDF) Accessed on October 20, 2019 (42% of social enterprises state that they need such a legal form.).
  11. ↑ New legal form: How family businesses 2.0 and start-ups can position themselves in the future. Retrieved October 20, 2019 .