Blue Origin's new stock option plan comes with a catch
Business Insider – Tech
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Blue Origin has lagged behind Elon Musk's SpaceX in the race to dominate the space industry. Paul Hennesy/Anadolu via Getty Images Blue Origin has a new stock option plan, after a previous version left employees with worthless equity. BI got a look at the previously unreported non-compete clause, an unusual move that could cost workers if they join a rival. Employees at Jeff Bezos' rocket company have watched SpaceX workers make millions off their own stock options. Blue Origin employees finally have a route to match SpaceX's new millionaires — but there's a catch. Employment attorneys and wealth managers told Business Insider that including this type of non-compete clause in an employee options scheme was unusual for fast-growing private startups. Mary Russell, an attorney at Stock Option Counsel PC who specializes in startup equity compensation, told Business Insider that these conditions make it less likely that employees will be paid out on their equity if the company strikes it big. "If someone is planning to stay with the startup through an acquisition or IPO, this may not be important," Russell said. "But startups are staying private much longer than they did in earlier eras, so it's very likely that startup employees will leave before a companywide exit event." Blue Origin did not respond to a request for comment. However, it still covers a significant portion of the company's workforce, which is based mostly in Florida, Texas, and Alabama.
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Blue Origin has lagged behind Elon Musk's SpaceX in the race to dominate the space industry. Paul Hennesy/Anadolu via Getty Images Blue Origin has a new stock option plan, after a previous version left employees with worthless equity. BI got a look at the previously unreported non-compete clause, an unusual move that could cost workers if they join a rival. Employees at Jeff Bezos' rocket company have watched SpaceX workers make millions off their own stock options. Blue Origin employees finally have a route to match SpaceX's new millionaires — but there's a catch. Jeff Bezos' rocket company has sought to address internal backlash over its stock option plan, which left employees holding worthless options while their counterparts at SpaceX made huge fortunes, by introducing a new, more generous equity scheme. However, the plan also includes an unusual non-compete clause, which has not previously been reported. It says that employees will forfeit all their stock options if they join a co
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