Daniel Goldstein, Executive Fellow, Rutgers University Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-goldstein-253bb724/
Daniel Goldstein is a seasoned executive leader and experienced Board member with 25+ years of managing and advising employee-owned and family-owned companies, family offices, foundations, and trusts on complex issues, including business strategy, acquisitions, direct investments, structuring, portfolio design, real estate, building teams, culture, family dynamics, and purpose driven philanthropy–spanning several continents, many jurisdictions, and multiple languages.
At the end of 2023, Daniel retired as CEO and President of Folience, a 100% ESOP-owned holding company. The company published the first edition of their newspaper on January 10, 1883, started a partial ESOP in 1986 and became 100% ESOP-owned in 2012. In late 2015, the ESOP sold its television station which strengthened the company’s balance sheet but removed its main revenue generator. Daniel joined shortly thereafter to transform the company and diversify the revenue base through acquisitions, to grow beyond the historically singular focus on media.
Folience was founded on January 1, 2017, and Daniel began building the portfolio. In 2017 he led the acquisition of Life Line Emergency Vehicles, an ambulance manufacturer in Sumner, Iowa. In 2018 Cimarron Trailers, a horse and livestock trailer manufacturer in Chickasha, Oklahoma was acquired. In 2022 the assets of another trailer company were acquired to open a second Cimarron Trailer production facility in Manhattan, Kansas. In 2020, the ESOP achieved its highest share value since inception of the ESOP in 1986, with subsequent year-on-year growth under Daniel’s leadership. Folience was awarded the 2022 national Employee-Owned Company of the Year award.
He now serves as Board director for manufacturing ESOPs serving in the roles of Board Chair, Audit Committee Chair, and Compensation Committee Chair.
Daniel’s style of leadership and engagement is based on collaborative participation. He continues to live these values as an advocate for employee ownership. He serves on the Board of the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO). He has served on the board of the Employee Ownership Expansion Network (EOX), the board of The ESOP Association (TEA) where he was awarded the 2020 Outstanding Member of Board of Governors and appointed to the Executive Committee of the TEA Public Policy Council, and as Trustee of the Employee Ownership Foundation (EOF) where he was appointed to the EOF Executive Committee. Daniel is an Executive Fellow at the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing and a Fellow at the UK based Ownership at Work independent think tank.
Daniel earned his B.A. from Colgate University and an MBA and an MS in Science and Technology Studies from RPI, both with honors. He was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma and MENSA.
Daniel is fluent in Italian with English as his mother tongue. He is a citizen of the US, UK and Italy and has spent time in over 60 countries, most recently traveling to scuba dive with his wife Gail.
Speaking Topics Include
- “All things employee ownership” including culture, strategy, acquisitions, leadership, and more.
- Higher-level benefits and challenges of employee ownership for individuals, their families, companies, communities, and the country.
- Finance, Strategy, Human Resources, Entrepreneurship, Organizational Behavior, introductory courses.
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