I think the whole OpenAI team being determined to follow Sam was crucial in all this, and is not something that’s easy to control.
Having said that, as there’s obviously a lot of money involved for all OpenAI employees (Microsoft offered very generous packages if they jumped ship), it can be said that money in the end is what people care a lot about.
Allegedly (per Twitter) there was a persistent effort by a small group to get those signatures rather than an organic ride-or-die attitude.
However, as you note, Sam’s exit would have cost those employees at least high six figures, so I’m sure that reduced the amount of leverage required to extract signatures.
Having said that, as there’s obviously a lot of money involved for all OpenAI employees (Microsoft offered very generous packages if they jumped ship), it can be said that money in the end is what people care a lot about.