News Alert: Blue Origin’s toxic, dysfunctional ‘bro culture’ led to mistrust, low morale and delays at Jeff Bezos’s space venture, workers say

As Blue Origin quickly grew from a small start-up to a large corporation with nearly 4,000 employees, the spaceflight company struggled with a new management's "authoritarian bro culture," as one former employee put it, which permeated the institution, translating into condescending, sometimes humiliating comments and harassment toward some women and a stagnant top-down hierarchy that frustrated many employees and inhibited its ability to successfully compete with Elon Musk's venture SpaceX. Interviews with more than 20 current and former Blue Origin employees and industry officials and documents obtained by The Washington Post reveal wide-ranging concerns about CEO Bob Smith's leadership style, a bureaucracy that hampered innovation and a lack of intervention from Bezos, who employees said was not giving the company enough attention during a crucial period. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Sign up for alerts News Alert Oct. 11, 9:18 a.m. EDT Blue Origin's toxic, dysfunctional 'bro culture' led to mistrust, low morale and delays at Jeff Bezos's space venture, workers say As Blue Origin quickly grew from a small start-up to a large corporation with nearly 4,000 employees, the spaceflight company struggled with a new management's "authoritarian bro culture," as one former employee put it, which permeated the institution, translating into condescending, sometimes humiliating comments and harassment toward some women and a stagnant top-down hierarchy that frustrated many employees and inhibited its ability to successfully compete with Elon Musk's venture SpaceX. Interviews with more than 20 current and former Blue Origin employees and industry officials and documents obtained by The Washington Post reveal wide-ranging concerns about CEO Bob Smith's leadership style, a bureaucracy that hampered innovation and a lack of intervention from Bezos, who employees said was not giving the company enough attention during a crucial period. Read more   Advertisement

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