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WEBIT Services says it became employee-owned in 2022 and reached 100% employee ownership in 2026, when it partnered with Buildkin, an employee-owned group of IT companies. The transition followed founder Eric Rieger’s decision to step away to focus on his health, and put leadership in the hands of Buildkin CEO Delcie Bean and WEBIT COO Aarin Bailey.
How WEBIT’s ownership changed
WEBIT Services is a managed IT provider based in Naperville, Illinois, serving the Chicago area. Eric Rieger founded the company in 1996. According to WEBIT’s company history, it became employee-owned in 2022. That was an earlier milestone, separate from the company’s announcement that it reached 100% employee ownership in 2026 through a partnership with Buildkin.
WEBIT announced the transition on September 29, 2026. The company described joining Buildkin as fulfilling Rieger’s 30-year vision for employee ownership. ChannelPro reported the arrangement as a partnership through which ownership was transferred to WEBIT employees. Neither account specifies the transaction’s legal structure or how individual employees participate.
Why the founder chose this route
WEBIT said Rieger was stepping away to focus on his health. ChannelPro’s account places the decision in a broader succession context: the future of employees, clients, and company culture mattered alongside the founder’s exit. It reported that 3rd Element Consulting identified internal employees interested in eventually taking over.
That context helps explain why the story is about more than a change in ownership. Rieger’s decision offered a way to connect the company’s future with its employees rather than treating a sale to an outside buyer as the only route. WEBIT’s company history attributes this statement to Eric Rieger, Founder: “You can always find a way to replace bad revenue. It’s incredibly difficult to replace good people.”
Buildkin CEO Delcie Bean described his role this way: “My job is to be a careful custodian of what he built and to keep the promises he made.” Bean also said: “Eric could have handed this company to a lot of people. That he chose to hand it to his own employees tells you what he cared about.” These are statements of intent and perspective, not independently measured evidence of future outcomes.
Rank #2
- Author: Willink, Jocko.Babin, Leif.
- Publisher: St. Martin's Press
- Pages: 384
- Publication Date: 2017-11-21
- Edition: 1
Who leads WEBIT after the transition
Bean assumed the CEO role at WEBIT, while Aarin Bailey remained COO and continued leading daily operations. Bailey said in the company’s September 29, 2026 announcement: “When the people serving you own the business, the incentive lines up with long-term relationships and long-term reputation,”
What WEBIT told customers to expect
At announcement time, WEBIT said customers would continue working with the same vCIOs, engineers, and support contacts. It also said it had no immediate changes planned for pricing, service agreements, support processes, or ticketing. Those were the company’s stated plans at the time of the announcement, not a guarantee that conditions could never change.
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What the public accounts do not establish
The available company and trade-press accounts do not state the transfer’s legal form, purchase price or valuation, financing terms, tax treatment, or ownership allocation among employees. They also do not say whether employees hold shares directly or through a trust. The transition should not be described as an ESOP without evidence of that specific structure.
Nor do the accounts provide independently verified post-transition customer results. WEBIT’s history page lists a 99% client-satisfaction figure, but does not state its measurement period or method; it is a company-published claim, not independent evidence about the effects of employee ownership.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What other business owners can take from the case
WEBIT shows one documented succession path for a founder-led managed service provider, not a universal prescription. An owner weighing employee ownership against an outside sale, management buyout, or family succession would need to assess how each option fits the company and its people.
- Employee continuity: Which path offers employees a meaningful future, and are they prepared for the responsibilities involved?
- Customer relationships: How would clients experience the change in ownership and leadership?
- Founder’s goals: Does the route align with the founder’s priorities for the company’s culture and legacy?
- Leadership readiness: Who will make decisions and run daily operations after the transition?
- Financing and execution: What funding, legal structure, and implementation work would the chosen route require?
The sources on WEBIT do not compare the outcomes of these succession paths, so the case does not establish that employee ownership is better than the alternatives. It does show how a founder’s departure can be framed as an ownership decision tied to the company’s future, employees, and customers.
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