Paul Meisel

How Steve Jobs Lost Over $4 Billion

I think that there is a conundrum here:

It would appear that Jobs doesn't really need to work for money and doesn't deeply care about it...

Yet he has done some dumb things that probably cost him some money and got him some bad press if not in trouble....

I think he is probably getting some bad advice from somebody.

Why Invest in a Bad Apple? Options Pricing is a Real Issue

I don't buy from Exxon or BP. Sunoco and Marathon are my choices.... I don't buy from Wal-mart, and I don't do business with several realtors and bankers in my little town. You do have choices, though they aren't all convenient. I haven't talked to my youngest sister in awhile either.

I am not advocating my choices for you, just telling you how I make mine. Good luck with yours.

Why Invest in a Bad Apple? Options Pricing is a Real Issue

"There is no statute that explicitly outlaws backdating stock-option grants, but it seems virtually impossible to backdate options and achieve the ultimate goal of putting grants "in the money" without first deliberately falsifying documents and then covering up the sham. At least that seems to be the conclusion reached by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding their first case against executives charged with fraud related to backdating."

I understand where you are coming from, he does a great job of driving product creation and making it relevant to the consumer. I personally don't want to see him leave the scene. But none of this will stop until there is complete transparency, rather than some vague "completely support" statements. It reminds me of Pete Rose "never bet on baseball".

Why Invest in a Bad Apple? Options Pricing is a Real Issue

I don't think the SEC is done yet....

Even if they are, we now have an honest man (by wide reputation) who very politely called Steve Jobs a liar.

I don't care if they have the best product in the world.... I just won't deal with liars.

Ex-Apple CFO Blames an Absolved Steve Jobs for Option Backdating

I am waiting for the post from that guy who says "backdating is not illegal"...

Crooked is as crooked does.

Criminal Probe Into Apple Stock Options Begins

Note the following from CFO.com:

"A director who approves the backdating of options faces at the very least a substantial likelihood of liability, if only because it is difficult to conceive of a context in which a director may simultaneously lie to his shareholders...and yet satisfy his duty of loyalty," Chandler wrote in his opinion on the Maxim case, Ryan v. Gifford.

Citing a 1980s Delaware decision, Chandler also wrote that "backdating options qualifies as one of those 'rare cases [in which] a transaction may be so egregious on its face that board approval cannot meet the test of business judgment, and a substantial likelihood of director liability therefore exists.' "

In other words, backdating is not criminal, it's just so bad that directors should be held liable for approving it.....

WSJ: Steve Jobs May Have Helped Pixar Director With Suspect Options Grant

"...technicality they are exploiting..."

That is the problem with the whole train of thought here. Either the people who did this knew it was wrong and did it anyway, or they were incapable of performing their corporate governance duties. Someone (note I do not specify who) screwed up, big.

The WSJ reporters apparently find a story hook in that someone famous appear close to more than one crime scene. That is something reporters get paid to do. On the other hand, corporate executives and directors get paid to make money and and safeguard the interests of the shareholders, abiding by laws and regulations. Apparently the reporters are better at their Job(s) (sorry, couldn't resist the pun) than some executives and directors are at theirs.

Polishing The Apple: Steve Jobs and The Options Affair

The facts are simple: There was backdating, it was incorrectly reported, and the financials were wrong for years. Obviously some senior financial and legal people are culpable; they get paid to make sure things like that don't happen.

If everyone is convinced that Steve Jobs is not complicit and bears no significant responsibility, fine... but somebody is certainly responsible for YEARS of incorrect reporting.

Polishing The Apple: Steve Jobs and The Options Affair

This reminds me a little bit of Hilary Clinton and the commodity trading scandal.

Either Mr. Jobs is incredibly ignorant of accounting and financial practices for a corporate executive, and was deficient in his choice of financial officers, legal counsel, and auditors -- or he is a damn liar.

If I still held AAPL (I sold awhile back) I would prefer the second.

If I was a director, I would at the minimum change auditors and several of the senior executives, and insist on detailed oversight of all compensation processes, audit planning, and financial reporting discussions.

It is not about whether he deserves the money he made or will make -- its about stewardship of other peoples money. The day Steve Jobs agreed to work for Apple at any salary, he agreed to be a steward of the shareholders interest. I would be happy to see any humility whatsoever from the Apple camp.

Why Steve Jobs Should Resign

"What is really sad about the AAPL options scandal is that it did not need to happen. Jobs and the rest of the AAPL board are wealthy, well-educated people with access to the best legal advice and possessing the time and resources to get this right. When we see members of the US business elite behaving in such an ill-considered fashion..."

This is true of every one of the options scandals, the HP issue, Enron, Arthur Andersen, and just about every scandal of the last century.

The unfortunate part of highly driven, competitive, and ambitious individuals is that drive and ambition (and maybe greed) overcome the memory that in a corporate structure they work for the shareholders. It ceased to be "their company" the minute they went public.

If Steve Jobs didn't know that backdating options was wrong, he certainly should have -- there are plenty of experts on the payroll that had the duty to inform him. Is he then guilty of employing people who are incompetent, or have no backbone to tell the boss something he may not want to hear? At some point he has to admit to some part of the failure.

Sitting Under the Apple Tree

I enjoy the satire -- great commercial idea! I read this as much for your humor, Phil, as for the market commentary......and wind up e-mailing to my sons a couple days a week.