Oh, I also forgot to mention that our third, minority partner in the company who's been a shareholder since me and my bro were kids and is our lead foreman can't fucking stand the whiny PM, and only agreed to go along with him getting profit sharing or equity because we asked him to. The other PM, the purchaser, and the two site supervisors that were also included have all privately expressed large concerns with him in the past as well, he doesn't get along with anyone, although in recent months he'd been doing a lot better and a couple people had said so, because back in September we told him that virtually everyone in the company had complained to us about him at some point.
So if anything, most people in the company would likely be glad to see him go, although in the short term it would make life a bit harder.
Let me share something with you that a Chairman of the Board and board member of at least five major corporations shared with me in B-school. He had signed on as a board member of a new company. They were supposed to be meeting on strategy with the CEO, yet every strategy meeting of the board and the CEO involved one thing - his bonus structure. After eight months of meetings where this was the only thing they talked about, he resigned. An employee of the company can never be allowed to think that he's the sole reason it exists. Because the logical conclusion (to them anyway) is that they expect to be paid more than you are.
This guy needs to be smacked down to midcard status, he's getting a huge ego. He's not carrying any of the risk, but wants ownership. I bet he doesn't walk. He needs an attitude adjustment.
I have the same situation, in that I need a highly skilled Manager at all times (preferably two at one time), that can relate to customers, give accurate price estimates and keep the workers motivated. At times, I've had to fire Managers that want to treat me like I'm an employee. I usually have to find someone out there that was a laborer, and train them to be a Manager, and profits take a hit for six months. Most people just can't become a great Manager over night. But every time, when they treat me like I'm the help, they get the door. With me, it's different, because when they start acting like your PM does is when they start bidding jobs against me and doing them on the weekend. I can tell who is going to rob me by what comes out of their mouths.
It is always better to pay people bonuses on profit sharing, rather than dole out percentages of the company. As you'd read in economic texts dating back over a century, employee interests need to be aligned to the company's goals, and bonuses based on profits are essentially the same thing as ownership, but without the hassle. You wouldn't want to give ownership to an employee in the U.S., given the laws. Minority partners are given the same rights as majority ones. So a guy with just a few percent in the company, in some cases, will have just as much say in the company's direction as you would. And what happens to his share if he gets divorced, dies or gets strung out on crack and decides he's just going to smoke crack the rest of his life and stop working?
P.S. I'd start working on a new PM right now. Regardless of whether or not he quits in the next 24 hours, it's a good idea. When the company revolves around one person (other than the owner), that's never good for the owner. It just means you lose power.
P.P.S. You should be very concerned that you have that many guys coming to you for ownership at once, if you let them collectively bargain against you successfully, expect to lose. I tell my people if they want a raise, come talk to me on an individual basis, make a good business case for why you deserve a raise. It can very quickly turn into the mob turning against you and telling you they better get what they want, or they'll quit. I did have to fire everyone once to show them they weren't going to screw with me, when they decided they all want a 30% increase in pay, when they were already being paid 20-50% over market. And this was at an offpeak time (it was December, I lost 20k that month) and everyone else was laying off. Literally, in the Winter, there are dozens of skilled workers out there that have been laid off and would do their jobs for half of what I was paying my guys at the time.