American Systems and its next 50 years

American Systems opened for business in 1975 and transitioned to an employee stock ownership plan 15 years later, a model that makes it one of the market’s largest 100% ESOP companies.

CEO John Steckel joins for this episode to help mark American Systems’ 50th anniversary and explains some moves it has made this year to set the company up for the next 50, including its largest-ever acquisition.

In talking with our Ross Wilkers, Steckel lays out what the purchase of Epsilon brings to American Systems and larger trends in managed services that led to the transaction. Secured data centers are part of that equation too and increasingly reflect larger conversations in society, as Steckel explains.

Of course, American Systems’ status as an ESOP features in the conversation too. American Systems (No. 87) is one of three ESOP companies on the 2025 WT Top 100 ranking alongside Torch Technologies (No. 66) and DCS Corp. (No. 77).