Jeff Bezos’ space venture Blue Origin has reportedly unveiled a new stock incentive plan for its employees – a move designed to address growing staff frustration and make the company’s benefits more competitive with its main rival, Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The update follows reports of ‘broken morale’ within the company, particularly as employees at SpaceX have seen significant financial gains from that company’s growth ahead of its initial public offering (IPO).According to a report by The Financial Times, the changes come after widespread anger over a previous plan where employee stock options began to expire this year without any actual payout. The report highlights that under the old rules, staff could only see a return on their options if the company went public or was sold.However, the new scheme expands the list of “liquidity events” that trigger a payout to include external funding rounds and tender offers, where employees can sell shares back to the company or to Bezos himself.CEO Dave Limp reportedly informed staff that while an IPO or sale is unlikely in the near future, the company is committed to creating opportunities for employees to convert their vested options into “realised value”.
Blue Origin vs SpaceX: The space race hots up
Blue Origin’s push to motivate its workforce arrives at a critical time for the company. It is currently racing to meet launch targets for its massive New Glenn rocket, and at the same time, competing against SpaceX to build a lunar lander for NASA’s Artemis program. The company is also working toward a goal of reaching positive profit margins by 2029.Meanwhile, SpaceX is preparing for a high-profile IPO in June with a target valuation of $1.75 trillion. Unlike Blue Origin, SpaceX has frequently allowed its staff to sell shares at a profit during various funding rounds, the report said. One former employee noted that morale at Blue Origin dropped as they watched their peers at SpaceX buy second homes.Jeff Bezos, who is the sole shareholder and primary funder of Blue Origin, has historically been cautious about traditional stock schemes. He is reportedly worried that such plans wouldn’t help performance and was hesitant to give up any control of the venture.Currently, Bezos funds the company largely by selling his shares in Amazon. Blue Origin has won major government contracts from the Pentagon and NASA.