Theo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.
The top brass at Beta Technologies saw their collective net worth jump by nearly $1.4 billion following the electric plane company’s initial stock offering on Tuesday, according to a company filing with the federal government. Big investors, including BlackRock and an Amazon fund, also saw the value of their investments in the company soar.
Beta Technologies debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, raising more than $1 billion as it offered 34 million total shares at an initial price of $34 per share. In the following days, the South Burlington-based company’s stock price has oscillated around that figure, dipping to roughly $32 as the market closed on Friday.
Beta’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission details the share ownership of directors and executives. Their shares can be sold on the stock market following the expiration of a “lock-up” agreement that lasts 180 days from after Nov. 3, the October filing said.
Kyle Clark, the company’s CEO and founder, directly owns 487,100 shares in the company — an asset now worth roughly $15.5 million at Friday’s share prices. But over $235 million in stock is also held between trusts in his name and the name of his wife, Katie Clark, which do not allow for immediate access.
Clark, who was born in Huntington and traces aspects of Beta back to early engineering projects at Harvard University, said this week that he planned to keep the growing company headquartered in Vermont for now. Beta will be making further investments in its South Burlington-based production facilities in an effort to increase control of its own supply chain, Clark said.
Beta’s public offering also added to the portfolio of John Abele, a member of Beta’s board of directors reported to be Vermont’s only resident billionaire. A Shelburne resident, Abele co-founded Boston Scientific, a medical device company.
Abele directly owns roughly $1 million of Beta’s shares, but also controls roughly $550 million in further company stock via 11 other companies, at Friday’s share prices.
Chuck Davis, the chair of Beta’s board, is another top shareholder with direct or indirect ownership of nearly 15 million shares, valued at around $475 million. Davis, who grew up in Burlington, is the founding CEO of the Connecticut-based investment firm Stone Point Capital.
Five other executives and board members own more than $100 million in stock between them, and Austin Meyer, a California-based engineer and early investor in the company, holds up to nearly $400 million worth of shares.
Directors and executives also hold options to purchase a combined total of 2 million additional shares in the next two months, the SEC filing said.
Some individuals in the company’s corps of over 800 employees may be granted equity-based compensation, with over 1 million shares in this offering being reserved for a “directed share program to our current employees,” according to the filing. The value of those packages combined could be in excess of $40 million at Friday’s share prices. Those shares would not be subject to the 180 day “lock-up” agreement constraining executives and directors.
Beta’s list of major investors includes BlackRock, as well as Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund. BlackRock, a New York-based wealth management company with over $13 trillion in assets under its management, is referred to as a “cornerstone investor” in the company’s filings, and has indicated interest in purchasing up to $300 million of Beta’s stock. The Climate Pledge Fund, created to drive Amazon’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions, was also an early investor in Beta before it went public.
