Jobs did knowingly act in backdating options and it was common practice. This makes me sick, jobs should be charged and convicted and sent to jail!

The only problem would be if this was reported inaccurately. There is nothing illegal about giving someone stock options using an already-past date (in the same way you can give someone options based on a fixed price rather than a date, e.g., a million shares for $10/share). The only wrong-doing would be if Pixar falsified how this was reported. So this isn't interesting, yet.

What exactly makes you sick, sixcolors, about a common practice that is also perfectly legal. It is not the backdating that's a problem, but rather a failure in reporting it properly, which is what happened here, and which Jobs was not involved in.

What's your problem?

Moreover, whether Jobs played a role in selecting the date is also largely irrelevant. First, it is not illegal to backdate options. It is only illegal if they are not reported properly. Second, Jobs is not an accountant or attorney. He goes to those folks for advice. Accordingly, if Jobs relied on expert advice that said the grant dates were legal, he should be in the clear.

That's it, he backdated options then did not report it properly. As the signatory he should have known better.

sixcolors,

do you know for sure that Pixar didn't report it properly? None of the articles say that it was reported incorrectly.

All the article says is that the options were backdated (nothing wrong with that) and Jobs signed off on it (nothing wrong with that).

The article doesn't say if Pixar then didn't report the options properly.

I'm glad you're not in charge of the backdating investigations. You jump WAY before having ALL the facts.

He should have known? Really? Is the guy a certified accountant? Were all the other guys asleep at the wheel?

Backdating is no illegal. Failing to report properly is but it is not the responsibility of the CEO to do that. That is why they hire supposedly competent CFO's to handle all that Financial stuff.

Bad bad bad CFO's

He should have known? Really? Is the guy a certified accountant? Were all the other guys asleep at the wheel?

It doesn't matter if he should have known. He's in charge and, as such, is responsible. At least that what leaders do. Take the bullet for failing their people.

He may have more sway at Pixar, where he seems to keep a hands off approach. At Apple, being the hands on guy in charge, it really does lay in his lap.

Testudo, you obviously don't work in a large corporation if you are naive enough to actually believe that it's the norm for senior leaders to "take the bullet for failing their people."