Apple Execs Reportedly Faked Options Documents 172
theodp writes "Federal prosecutors are reportedly looking closely at stock option administration documents that were apparently falsified by Apple execs to maximize the profitability of option grants. While Apple has said CEO Steve Jobs did not profit from the stock-option backdating, Jobs has reportedly hired his own attorney to deal with the SEC and Justice Department."
Lawyering up. (Score:5, Insightful)
The purpose of a lawyer is to look after your interests while you conduct your business - they can warn you of impending trouble - and can nip a long drawn out investigation that will result in no arrests or charges right in the budd.
It's stupid to blame someone for seeking protection from abuse.
-GiH
Not one to dogpile Apple, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
Not yet, anyway, and maybe never, if the next round of initiatives (smart phone, media ventures, etc.) collapses.
Distracting Jobs and blemishing his heretofore immaculate turtleneck might have more consequences than just an easy story for everyone from CNET to AP report and re-report.
Re:Lawyering up. (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh.. right.. slashdot.. I mean *hiss* *woosh* "I have altered our arrangement" *hiss* *woosh*
-GiH
Re:Lawyering up. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Shakespeare was right... (Score:5, Insightful)
playing aggresively (Score:5, Insightful)
The price is that executives can no longer spend company money on whatever they wish. Executives cannot arbitrarily set pay. What we have seen in the past twenty years is scam to increase executive pay while simultaneously decreasing exposure to risk, while in the truly private sector, the opposite is true. The stock option is the classic example. It is marketed as a method to align the executives interest with the stockholder interest. If the stock rises, the executive gets rewarded. In reality, just like bonuses, the behind the scene negotiations guarantees the money no matter the state of the company.
In reality, these new breeds of corporations, with their bloated bureaucracy, with no other purpose than to create meaningless work that justifies it's existence, and raise prices and cut research to free enough money to pay for these non productive agents, are indistinguishable from any other massively bloated public entity. The similarities to congress, who wants to vote in a pay raise every year, but can't complete the minimum job requirements like passing a budget, are amazing.
Re:Lawyering up. (Score:4, Insightful)
Let the lawyer figure out the law stuff, and let the CEO figure out the business strategies. Taking all matters into your own hand is a grand waste of time.
B.
Re:yay, another company who's CEO's rob shareholde (Score:3, Insightful)
Corporate crisis PR playbook (Score:5, Insightful)
The corporate lawyer is NOT your lawyer (Score:5, Insightful)
This is probably a great time to remind everyone that unless you, personally, have paid your attorney's retainer, he is not your attorney. If the lawyers paid by Apple could save Apple a nickle by hanging an innocent Steve Jobs out to dry, they would be obligated to point out that fact to their client, who is not Steve Jobs.
The moral of this is that even if your employer has paid for a lawyer, you still need your own lawyer, even if you really are as important as Steve Jobs thinks he is. Don't depend on your employer's lawyer to defend you. He'll sell you out as soon as it helps his client.
Re:yay, another company who's CEO's rob shareholde (Score:5, Insightful)
Moreover, it was the downfall of Enron that highlighted Arthur Andersen and eventually exposed World Com. It's not like the Justice Dept. was on some sort of corporate crime crack down. They were dealing with the blatantly obvious.
Moreover, before you start cheerleading about "all of these corrupt companies were brought to Justice," I would suggest that you look at current practices for awarding and funding contracts for security, military, and reconstruction projects.
It's a FUD-rucker (Score:4, Insightful)
Why should you object to us searching your car if you're not carrying any drugs in it?
Why should you care if we listen to your phone conversations if you're not plotting terrorism?
Why do you own a gun if you're not being attacked right now and don't plan on killing anyone?
Why are you using the psudonym "Orion Blaster" if you have the right to free speech?
Secondly, Steve Jobs hired an attorney, singular. Not "an army of lawyers". Thanks for playing the exaggeration game though.
If some documents have been faked, there must be others. Just like if some music on your PC is pirated, you must have stolen all of it...
Yes, the backdating of stocks, the result of which gave MORE money to executives, caused Apple to be MORE profitable. [rolleyes]
Enron's issues were more than "cooking the books". The media portrays the entire Enron mess as a few guys changing a bunch of numbers in a ledger and a bunch of shredding of documents that proved their numbers were wrong. It goes further than that, into the realm of coercing power plant managers and tampering with the energy market itself. Remember those rolling blackout in California a few years ago? Those had nothing to do with an actual shortage of energy production ability verses demand in the summer months.
Re:Lawyering up. (Score:2, Insightful)
I don't think anyone is blaming for seeking protection. You, however, using the word "abuse", seem to already have determined that he did nothing wrong.
Whether he personally profited from their accounting practices is completley irrelevant.
He is the highest ranking corporate officer at Apple and as such has responsibilities and obligations to the shareholders and the board.
If he violated those by backdating options for other executives and employees he is still on the hook eventhough he did not make a single dollar.
Re:Lawyering up. (Score:3, Insightful)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&r
Re:Corporate crisis PR playbook (Score:1, Insightful)
But please, more clinton blowjob cracks; god knows they're so relevant....