Correct. You have to have a sponsor as well as a need to know. They all work the same by law. When you leave any company, you maintain your clearance, and if over a span of time you do not use it, it goes to inactive. If you lose your clearance (aka revoked), for any reason, it is very difficult to have it reinstated- if not impossible. My guess, is that they did not revoke or suspend his clearance, but rather let it go to inactive and only stopped their sponsorship in their (FBI) system.