Why This CEO Chose an ESOP Over Private Equity | JD Ewing of COE Distributing

About this episode

JD Ewing discusses his choice of an ESOP over private equity and shares his journey of building COE Distributing.

Why would a successful CEO choose an ESOP over private equity? In this episode of Driven by DCKAP, JD Ewing — CEO of COE Distributing — shares why he chose an employee ownership model over a private equity exit, and what that decision means for the future of his business and profitability.But the ESOP decision is only part of the story. JD took over his family's wholesale distribution business at 19 years old with just $225,000 in revenue, built it into a multimillion dollar company, sold it — and then watched the acquiring company go bankrupt. So he started over from scratch, this time alongside his wife Melanie. Today, COE Distributing stands as one of the most profitable independent office furniture distributors in the US — built twice, and better for it.

People in this episode

Host: DCKAP

Guest: JD Ewing

Topics covered

• ESOP
• private equity
• employee ownership
• business growth
• wholesale distribution

Keywords

• ESOP
• private equity
• business success
• employee ownership
• COE Distributing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: COE Distributing, private equity

Places: US

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