Leaked documents from OpenAI reveal that the company pressured departing employees to sign restrictive nondisparagement and nondisclosure agreements under threat of losing their vested equity—a practice CEO Sam Altman has since apologized for, but documents with his signature complicate that claim.

According to documents obtained by Vox, separation letters signed by OpenAI executives, including Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon, stated that employees must sign a release of claims within 60 days to retain their vested units. For some, the deadline was just seven days. When ex-employees asked for more time to seek legal counsel, they faced pushback. An OpenAI representative emailed a second employee that failing to sign “could impact your equity.”

Altman posted an apology on May 18, saying, ‘We have never clawed back anyone’s vested equity, nor will we do that if people do not sign a separation agreement.’ However, incorporation documents signed by Altman on April 10, 2023, contain clauses giving the company broad authority to cancel vested equity or block former employees from selling it. Kwon acknowledged the provision had been in place since 2019 but said ‘the team did catch this ~month ago.’

On Hacker News, the story ignited debate. Commenters highlighted the unusual nature of the threat, with one noting that in multiple startup experiences, they had never seen an exit agreement threatening vested equity. Another said that if this really was a mistake, the easiest way to deal with it would be to release people from their non-disparagement agreements. OpenAI told Vox it is identifying and reaching out to former employees who signed a standard exit agreement to make it clear that it has not and will not cancel their vested equity and releases them from nondisparagement obligations.