Apple Says Options Probe Clears Execs

Associated Press ^ | December 29, 2006 | May Wong

[HAL9000]

Excerpt -

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Apple Computer Inc. cleared Chief Executive Steve Jobs and the rest of its current management of misconduct involving stock option grants, despite Jobs' awareness of favorable grant dates.

The company said Friday it has "complete confidence" in the executive team, though it also acknowledged the backdating of thousands of option grants and restated past earnings due to the results of its probe of options practices.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission detailing its probe, Apple said Jobs was aware of, or recommended the selection of, some favorable grant dates but he neither benefited financially from them nor "appreciated the accounting implications."

The options mishandling will result in an additional noncash charge of $84 million, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company said. In its full-year financial report filed with the SEC, which was delayed due to the options probe, Apple said earnings for fiscal years 2006, 2005 and 2004 will be lowered by $4 million, $7 million, and $10 million respectively.

Apple shares rose about 5 percent to $84.91 in morning trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market after the news.

~ snip ~

[Lancey Howard]

Apple Computer Inc. cleared Chief Executive Steve Jobs and the rest of its current management of misconduct involving stock option grants

Well, okay then. Cleared by Apple Computer Inc.
LMAO

[jimbo123]

It's no surprise that Apple's "internal investigation" cleared Jobs. But the FBI investigation hasn't cleared Jobs and he just hired a criminal lawyer this week.

It's also peculiar that Apple's "internal investigation" didn't say anything about who forged the meeting notes about the phantom board meeting that granted Jobs the backdated option.

Who forged the board notes?

Enquiring minds want to know.

[Gay State Conservative]

Now comes the SEC's investigation.

[jimbo123]

There is currently an FBI investigation into the forged documents and phantom board meeting regarding the issuance of Jobs' options grant at the end of 2001.

Jobs just hired a criminal lawyer this week.

The FBI is not investigating the backdating. They are investigating who forged the documents and why.

[100-Fold_Return]

What a shock--surely algore didn't pull any strings for his employees?!?!?!

[kinoxi]

I heard he invented board meetings.

[Tarpon]

You wonder if they thought they could get away with scamming investors. Restating your profits downward is fraud, especially after using the profit number to drive up the stock valuation. Afterall, it worked well for Enron.

I wonder where alGore was when all this was going on? How many shares did he get?

Jobs didn't know? Hah, I have 7.5 million reasons to think he did.

[antiRepublicrat]

The options mishandling will result in an additional noncash charge of $84 million ... earnings for fiscal years 2006, 2005 and 2004 will be lowered by $4 million, $7 million, and $10 million respectively ... Apple shares rose about 5 percent to $84.91

Now exactly where did any shareholders lose value over the actual backdating? The stock is now valued far higher than 2004 (the earliest date of the accounting reshuffle), including a 2:1 split.

Yes, there were executives who pillaged their companies using backdating, but this isn't one of them.

Now we just need to nail anyone who may have been involved in any possible cover up.

[100-Fold_Return]

"I heard he invented board meetings"

ROTFLM*O Happy New Year for you and yours. We needed that=-)

[HAL9000]

Yes, there were executives who pillaged their companies using backdating, but this isn't one of them.

Most of the 6,428 improperly-dated grants went to rank-and-file Apple employees.

[theFIRMbss]

A couple weeks back, Fortune speculated Jobs would announce a deal at MacWorld real soon that the Beatles would real soon appear at iTunes. If this does come off and Jobs announces the phone it will not matter if Jobs is taken to a Federal lock-down. Apple will score big. Even without Jobs (presumably he'll step down) and after large fines, Apple stock should soar. The market is very strange and Apple's stranger.

[antiRepublicrat]

Restating your profits downward is fraud, especially after using the profit number to drive up the stock valuation.

Yet the stock goes up 5% after the restatement, adding to Apple's value many times over what the backdating just cost the company.

[jimbo123]

Gore Certifies Apple Board's Confidence in Steve Jobs

December 29, 2006, 12:20 PM

In a statement accompanying Apple's delayed filing of its annual 10-K report with the US Securities and Exchange Commission today, following an internal audit to discover stock options-based accounting irregularities, the senior members of the audit committee - former US Vice President Al Gore, and former IBM CFO Jerry York - announced that the company's board of directors "has complete confidence in Steve Jobs and the senior management team."


http://www.betanews.com/article/Gore_Certifies_Apple_Boards_Confidence_in_Steve_Jobs/1167410966

[Zetman]

Who cares?? There is a much more important question which overrides all of these issues: what sort of upgraded iPod is Apple going to announce at Macworld in two weeks??

: )

[jimbo123]

So who forged the board meeting documents that granted Jobs the options?

[theFIRMbss]

>Now exactly where did any shareholders lose value over the actual backdating?

From reading your posts,
I get the impression you
believe all our laws

are ONLY around
to punish businessmen who
run companies that

fail in the market.
Now, that may be a valid
libertarian

perspective, it's not
directly true in real life.
Profits don't make "right."

[HAL9000]

So who forged the board meeting documents that granted Jobs the options?

Nancy Heinen.

[theFIRMbss]

>A couple weeks back, Fortune speculated Jobs would announce a deal at MacWorld real soon that the Beatles would real soon appear at iTunes.

Apple, Beatles close to iTunes deal

[Tarpon]

Some investors will buy anything, most don't think, they run on emotion. Who do you think is buying? The people that already are in, or new investors clamoring for some of the fall? Reminds me of the recent South Florida condo boom, now gone bust.

You still can't scam your investors and call it good, not even Steve Jobs can do that. We'll see when the SEC and FBI gets done who really knew and what was going on. Until then, be happy.