Editor, myStockOptions.com

How Steve Jobs Lost Over $4 Billion

In "Steve Jobs' Bad Bet" (Fortune, March 19, 2007, page 67), columnist Geoff Colvin takes a somewhat similar look at his stock grant exchange.

The reality is that even visionary CEOs do not fully understand the upside value of their stock options. Once options are underwater, executives and employees have trouble seeing that they still have value given the number of years until the options expire (usually 10 year term). Many rank-and-file employees and managers who traded in their underwater options a few years ago for a smaller number of repriced options or restricted stock are likely feeling real regrets. Given the market's rise in the past few years, particularly for tech companies, those earlier options may now be substantially in the money.

Bruce Brumberg
Editor-in-Chief
myStockOptions.com