This.
DH got a new job, starting next month. He was pretty high up in the current company and had to sign NCA and some other paperwork. Before the new company made an offer, their lawyers looked over his contract with the current company and said that they will be willing to wait for him for a year IF he had any issue leaving the current company. It was a concern, things could go either way because the new company is indirectly (could be directly) competing with his current company. But luckily his boss wasn’t going to mess up DH’s opportunity and congratulated DH on the new job. So he is on his way out…but the CEO was mad that his boss didn’t counter offer, and claimed he was “concerned” with DH leaving. But DH’s boss was able to talk him out of it. Very grateful that they let him go without a problem. It could be a mess.
The only thing that will be absolutely clear is that DH will NOT have any rights to the 40+ patents that he authored and submitted with the current company.