After falling far behind the rest of industry, Blue Origin creates new stock option plan

Decades later, Blue Origin is still not operationally profitable, and the company’s finances are not public.

“Two years after he founded his space company in the summer of 2004, Jeff Bezos penned a letter that greeted new employees with the message, “Welcome to Blue Origin”

Ars Technica

The article says that, by various estimates, Bezos is still investing at least a few billion dollars annually to keep the lights on.

Ars Technica

Recently Blue Origin has generated financial returns from the sale of BE-4 engines and from commercial launches, including a forthcoming mission for AST SpaceMobile on its New Glenn rocket.

As revenues rise, the company’s expenses have also risen: it is continually expanding facilities and now employs more than 11,000 people.

Blue Origin faces intense competition for top aerospace engineers and technicians.

The article says Bezos offers a compelling mission, high salaries, and a demanding but not suffocating work environment.

Ars Technica

However, on one key aspect of retaining talent Blue Origin ranks far behind the rest of the industry.

The headline reports that Blue Origin has created a new stock option plan, but the provided excerpt does not include details of that plan or explain how it will address the retention gap.

As a result, the specific features and likely effects of the plan are unclear.