Is it literally true that he didn't tell anyone for a year?
No. From the article: "On June 4th, 2014, the day after the sale, I sat down with each employee, each one a friend, and I told them what happened."
> I told them that […] I faced two facts: > First, I had to pack up and leave California […] > Second, I had no backup plan […]
Neither of which is "I have sold the company". A few paragraphs later we see "But I’d kept all this secret."
So if he shared his diagnosis and the lack of backup plan, that is the "all this" that remained secret? The writing didn't seem clear to me on this point.
If my company got sold to e.g. the Family Research Council, I'd like to know that my work is now benefiting an organization I vehemently oppose. Obviously an employment contract might spell out whether I must be privy to such a sale, but I was wondering whether disclosure is compulsory even in the absence of such a guarantee in an employment contract.
The analogous case is not when you're interviewing for other jobs, but when you have taken one. At that point, yes, I feel compelled to tell my current employer.
If some sort of shareholder vote were necessary to sell, then they'd need to know ahead of time. If not, the sale could happen, but employees should know immediately thereafter. And it sounds like they did!