I guess it could go one of two ways, and ultimately boils down to whether or not the employee has access to the bank account.<p>Assuming they do, and assuming it's an actual business (llc or whatever) then the employee could keep it going in the medium term, basically preserving the value of the shares.<p>Once an executor has been assigned, the employee can liase with them about business decisions, appoitment as a formal business decision maker, and so on.<p>Ultimately the shares will go somewhere, perhaps to an heir, perhaps to the state.<p>If some compensation is still due to the employee, then perhaps they could get control of the shares - every case would be treated on merit.<p>If the employee does not have access to the bank account, then the business is basically dead. Without access to cash, without access to revenue, it'll likely fold immediately - probably before an executor can be appointed, and can arrange access to the account.<p>That said, each case is different and YMMV, especially given the very limited amount of information in your question.