Blue Origin has a new employee stock plan, but not everyone is happy

A little more than a month ago, as Ars was reporting a lengthy feature on Blue Origin’s lackluster original stock options program, the company announced a replacement plan. As part of this announcement, Blue Origin chief executive Dave Limp promised at a company-wide meeting on April 17 to offer more information about the new plan. This meeting date subsequently populated the online calendars of employees until Monday, when it was canceled. Limp sent an email to employees on Monday saying the town hall would be held at a later date because much of the company was focused on the upcoming third launch of New Glenn, set for no earlier than Saturday. However, Limp also promised that more information about the new stock options plan would be shared by email soon, and this update arrived in employee inboxes on Tuesday. Among the details of the new plan, as outlined in the letter: The letter, as well as a “Blue Origin Stock Option Wiki” did not, however, answer some key questions. It does not offer any indication about what the “strike price” might be (that will come on May 15) or how Blue Origin’s “fair market value” would be determined. It is also vague on when a liquidity event (i.e. when employees could cash in their options) would occur. On this question, the wiki site says, “There is no guaranteed timeline, but we are being intentional about creating liquidity events that provide you with the opportunity to convert vested stock options into realized value, especially as the company’s cash flow strengthens over time.” Several employees told Ars, based on this language, that they did not believe Blue Origin was serious about offering liquidity events. However, legally it may not be possible for Blue Origin to offer any guarantees at this time. Moreover, this plan does not seem strikingly different from most of Blue Origin’s peers in the industry in that the potential gain is not immediate, but rather in the long-term should Blue Origin deliver on its promises. Smart aerospace engineers and capable technicians have plenty of places to work, especially along Florida’s bustling space coast where Blue Origin is building its New Glenn rockets and Blue Moon landers. It’s not just SpaceX that is offering stock options. For employees who may not like the politics of SpaceX founder Elon Musk or its demanding work schedules, there are other promising startups, such as Stoke Space or the recently revitalized Relativity Space. If this new plan is meaningful, as senior leaders are telling the workforce they intend it to be, it could allow Blue Origin to better compete for, and retain, top talent. But clearly Limp and Bezos are going to face some healthy skepticism, and clear communication with employees will be essential. The cancellation of the April 17 Town Hall probably did not help this perception.