The longstanding bus company Dan has been sold in a multibillion-shekel deal, marking the end of its decades-long run as a workers’ cooperative. The sale is not only a major corporate shift but also an extraordinary financial moment for more than a thousand of its bus drivers, each of whom is expected to receive a personal payout of roughly 600,000 Israeli shekels.

From workers’ cooperative to modern company

Founded in the early years of the state, Dan Bus Cooperative (חברת דן) became one of Israel’s central public transport operators, especially in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. For generations, it functioned as a cooperative—meaning that many of its drivers and employees were also shareholding members of the company.

This cooperative structure meant that when Dan was sold, ownership benefits went directly to those members. Now, retired and current drivers who held shares in Dan’s cooperative framework are experiencing an unexpected financial windfall.

A rare event in Israel’s labor landscape

Under the deal, the company transitions from cooperative ownership to a privately held corporate model, a major change for one of Israel’s legacy public transport organizations. Analysts note that such employee windfalls are rare in the Israeli economy, let alone in the bus industry.

Industry observers describe it as “a once-in-a-generation event,” reflecting how collective ownership can translate into long-term employee rewards when a cooperative evolves into a modern company or is acquired.

Broader implications

The sale of Dan raises questions about the future of cooperative frameworks in Israel, which once formed the backbone of the country’s transportation and agricultural sectors. While privatization efforts have accelerated in recent decades, this move also highlights how shared ownership can yield tangible outcomes for workers when managed sustainably.

For the drivers, many of whom have spent decades behind the wheel, this sale means more than an economic milestone—it’s a symbolic recognition of their role in building and maintaining Israel’s public transport network.

As one Israeli economist put it, “It’s not every day that a bus driver ends a shift with a 600,000-shekel check.”

Photo credit: Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons