Not really, unless there's a reason for a more thorough background check/investigation. My thinking was that such a situation would be the sort of thing people

Not really, unless there's a reason for a more thorough background check/investigation. My thinking was that such a situation would be the sort of thing people would talk about. Investors would be upset if a leak harmed their interests, founders would be pissed about a betrayal, other companies would talk about it as a "this is why we need that clause" anecdote, reporters might stumble on court filings, etc.Word gets around, and in a lot of ways, the startup/tech communities are still small despite their size. That said, it's just a hypothetical and there would be a lot of factors at play in real life. But if it were at a startup with any sort of profile, or it had well-known investors, I wouldn't bet on the news staying a secret.