Jeff Bezos (c) Blue Origin
Jeff Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin, has unveiled a new employee stock grant program in an attempt to end staff dissatisfaction and make its rewards system more competitive with rival SpaceX, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing three sources familiar with the situation.
Bezos’ efforts to make employee incentives more competitive come amid growing rivalry between Blue Origin and Ilon Musk’s SpaceX, which recently filed for an initial public offering in the U.S. to achieve a market capitalization of about $1.75 trillion.
According to the newspaper, the rocket maker informed employees of the revised incentive scheme last week after employees expressed widespread dissatisfaction with the previous scheme as options under the previous scheme began to expire without any payout.
‘Testimony’ diverges
Several current and former employees told the Financial Times they were angered that the rocket manufacturer had allowed options under the original scheme to expire after setting criteria that allowed them to receive payouts only in the event of an IPO or sale of the company.
The new plan attempts to address some of those complaints and sets a new exercise price for the options at $9.50 a share, the Financial Times said.
According to the report, the stock options are cash-settled, meaning they will be paid out in cash rather than providing employees with an ownership stake.
The scheme also expands the list of “liquidity events” that can trigger a payout to now include external funding rounds or tender offers, the Financial Times said, citing documents seen by the editorial board.
According to the publication, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp told employees that the group has no immediate plans for an IPO.
‘Other’ social rivalry
Critics and economists see the influence of billionaires as a shift to a new social model – techno-feudalism. In this system, they act as modern lords who own not land but digital cloud resources and infrastructure on which the lives of millions of “digital serfs” depend.
Both billionaires are actively investing in alternative learning models. Musk created the Astra Nova school with a focus on critical thinking and solving complex applied problems, while Bezos is developing Bezos Academy, a network of free preschools for children from low-income families.
