Having worked on the Apple account several times over the years when Steve Jobs has been at the helm, not at the helm, and back at the helm, I’ve followed the fortunes of both the company and it’s somewhat volatile co-founder closely for some time.
Today’s news that, as expected, government regulators have charged Apple’s former top lawyer and CFO with violating United States securities laws came as no surprise. Lawyers for Nancy Heinin, the former legal eagle, vowed to fight the charges. Fred Anderson, the former CFO, announced a settlement – and, here’s the best bit… In a surprising twist issued a statement implicating Steve Jobs.
Up until now, the smart money has been on Jobs walking away from the stock option scandal everyone in Silicon Valley has been engrossed in for the last few weeks. Anderson said he warned Jobs about the accounting implications regarding one of two questionable stock option grants he received, potentially weakening one of Jobs' most powerful defenses.
A cloud of suspicion has hung over Wunderkind Stevorino since last year when the company acknowledged that it routinely backdated employee stock options. The key question is whether Jobs realized there were problems with the backdating process or if he relied on others to handle it properly. But that’s why those Zegna suited lawyers get those humungous fees!
George Parker
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