Apple Shares Fall -They May Have to Restate Results
A Times Report says that Apple have announced that it may have to "restate its results". The announcement stunned the market, with close to $3 billion (£1.6 billion) wiped off Apple’s market value.
The company announced an internal review of its stock option policies in June but late on Thursday night revealed that it had found “irregularities” that may be serious enough to warrant a restatement of accounts.The company claimed just two weeks ago that the problems it had found would not lead to a “material adjustment” of the books.
Apple gave no specific details of the potential size of the stock option problem or the potential scope of the expected accounts restatement.
Its all about the way stock options have been granted to executives. Apparently sometimes companies backdate the option price to low point in the share, so that executives can make (even) more money. And the problem is apparently not limited to Apple. More than 60 companies have come under the scrutiny of regulators in recent months for past stock-option grants.
Now who do we know who is sitting on a mountain of high tech stock options?