Jobs, Execs Settle Suit on Backdated Apple Options

Tentative $14M deal will put an array of state and federal lawsuits to rest
By Jim O'Neill,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 11, 2008 9:52 AM CDT
Jobs, Execs Settle Suit on Backdated Apple Options
Apple CEO Steve Jobs smiles during an event to announce the new iPod and iTunes 8, in San Francisco, Sept. 9, 2008.    (AP Photo)

Apple CEO Steve Jobs and several current and former execs have reached a tentative settlement on a shareholder lawsuit alleging they backdated stock options to boost their pay, the Wall Street Journal reports. Apple will receive $14 million in the deal, which would end a series of state and federal suits that followed the company’s admission of improper grants in 1997-2002.

Backdating—which sets the stock option price lower—is legal as long as it’s reported correctly. Apple has agreed to change corporate governance procedures as part of the settlement. Apple gets the $14 million since shareholders technically brought the suit on its behalf against the executives.
(More Apple stories.)

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