NFIB

Small Business Share of Wealth on the Rise
10/22/2002

According to a recent study by the Small Business Administration, the share of total business wealth in the U.S. held by small companies is on the rise, following a drop in the 1990s.

Small business began the 1990s with 59.3 percent of the total business wealth, but dropped to 42.4 percent by 2000. Over the past two years the number has climbed to nearly 50 percent.

The largest factor for the decline during the previous decade was the run-up in the value of large technology firms. Once the Internet bubble burst and the stock market became less stable, small business was able to reclaim a larger share of the wealth.

"Though the small corporations were hit hard, some of the big businesses were hit much harder," Kathryn Kobe, vice president and chief economist at consulting firm Joel Popkin & Co., told the Wall Street Journal.