RSS RSS Twitter Twitter
apple news/media reports

12/29/2006, 9:20am, EST

Friday, December 29th

Apple takes $84m charge for option scandal

Apple will restate financial data going back to 2002 and take an $84 million ($105 million pre-tax) charge after a board committee found the company had improperly backdated thousands of stock options grants to employees and executives. The company took a a charge of almost $20 million to adjust for Apple CEO Steve Jobs' options, but exonerated current management and Jobs, saying it has "complete confidence" in its chief executive. The additional details of the Apple options backdating scandal were revealed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. Confirming earlier, Apple said that Jobs was aware of the favorable grant dates and that there was no misconduct by Apple's current management; however, the review added that Jobs recommended some of the favorable grant dates, though he didn't profit from them. Earlier this week, Apple's stock fell as reports surfaced that the Mac and iPod manufacturer falsified authorization of 7.1 million stock options to Jobs and that Jobs hired legal counsel ahead of a pending investigation by the SEC.

Apple's investigation found that Jobs was aware or recommended the selection of some favorable grant dates, but the committee confirmed that he did not receive or financially benefit from these grants or understand the accounting implications. The Special Board Committee also found that the investigation had raised serious concerns regarding the actions of two former officers in connection with the accounting, recording and reporting of stock option grants, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Apple found that 6,428 grants on 42 dates were not properly recorded, but that no adjustments were required for the remaining 35,649 grant during the period between October 1996 and January 2003. In 2002, Apple said it made significant changes in its stock option granting practices in response to evolving legal, regulatory and accounting requirements.


Filed under: Apple

, , 18comments, del.icio.us, slashdot, digg, buzz , Twitter



18 comments
Reader Reactions (Please use <i></i> for italic text)

subscribe to comments
for this article




Expand All   Global Settings
Finally
0
12/29, 9:53am, EST
Over and done with. I'm just dying at laughter at all those idiots that sold in the last few days. LOLLLL what a bunch of suckers. Some people simply don't know when to 'think'.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Apr 2005
User is offline
Stock Is Soaring
0
12/29, 10:45am, EST
Probably didn't hurt to have Al Gore on the BOD.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Dec 1999
User is offline
Still Trouble?
0
12/29, 11:30am, EST
I'd assume Apple could still be penalized by the SEC for wrong doing. The fact that Jobs recommended certain dates shows he was aware what was going on but it's funny how he didn't act on them. I am sure this stuff started happening to other companies and he decided not to cash in. He still takes very little from the company. It's quite incredible. Probably the least paid CEO vs. company size.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Dec 1999
User is offline
re:Still Trouble?
0
12/29, 12:49pm, EST
If you would have RTFA, Jobs was aware of some of the grants but he was not aware of the accounting implications. As CEO, it was not his responsibility to ensure they were reported correctly. For that, he relied on the CFO to follow up on the issue.
Senior User
Joined Jul 2004
User is offline
what does al gore...
0
12/29, 1:55pm, EST
...have to do with it? these are apple's internal findings, not some outside regulatory review that you might think gore would intervene with. in any case, he holds no sway with the SEC, simply by being a former VP, who lost a run for prez and is unlikely to run again. unless you know something about him that we don't.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Aug 2001
User is offline
It's only announced
0
12/29, 3:04pm, EST
The article says it will be handed out at MWSF and available in January...not now. This is good news, though. Garmin promised Mac support at last year's MacWorld and it's nice to see them keep their promise. Are you listening TiVo?
Professional Poster
Joined Jun 1999
User is offline
That took a while...
0
12/29, 3:34pm, EST
They were "about to release" this at last January's MWSF. Took their good old time, but glad they finally got it together.

What I really want is their mapping software for their driving GPS systems. They promised that for 2006 too, but given this delay I'm not very optimistic.

As for the user looking for the download - the story says it'll be available in late January.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Aug 2005
User is offline
re: what does al gore...
0
12/29, 4:49pm, EST
Al Gore is on Apple's Board of Directors. Gore apparently was the head of the special committee that did this latest investigation. He has nothing to do with the federal government or the SEC.

Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Jul 2006
User is offline
Bad Joke
0
12/29, 6:33pm, EST
On the last working day of the year they bring out a fitness program. I guess I got suckered by their promises of Mac compatibility as well. I wish I could get to Macword to rip them a new one in person.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Jul 2003
User is offline
Bad Joke
0
12/29, 6:33pm, EST
On the last working day of the year they bring out a fitness program. I guess I got suckered by their promises of Mac compatibility as well. I wish I could get to Macword to rip them a new one in person.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Jul 2003
User is offline
additional comments:..1..2..Next
Your Comments

In order to post comments: If you are a registered member, please login with your MacNN Forums username and password otherwise please uncheck the checkbox below.


Registered Member?
macnn forums login:

macnn forums password:

Not a member of the MacNN forums? Register now for free.

RSS Feeds

Have the latest content delivered to your desktop via RSS. Use the links below to get access to a specific blog, news, or reviews feed.



  MacNN -all

  MacNN Reviews

  MacNN Podcasts

  iPodNN

  Electronista

  Left Lane News
Want To Sell Your Laptop? Any Condition - receive Top Cash. Get an instant quote. Free shipping www.CashForLaptops.com

Internet Marketing School - 100% Online: Master SEO, SEM, E Commerce, Media & More with a U of San Francisco Certificate.

Buy from The Apple Store, iTunes.com, Amazon.com, TechDepot, OfficeDepot, Computers4Sure, or donate.