NYT Reports Steve Jobs' Exoneration

heyitsgogi writes "The New York Times is reporting that Apple has cleared Steve Jobs of any wrongdoing. From the article: 'In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple said that while its investigation revealed that the company's stock option procedures did not include sufficient safeguards to prevent manipulation, Mr. Jobs did not benefit financially from any questionable stock awards.' As a result of the internal investigation, Apple said it would record $84 million in expenses related to the options awards."

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In other news...

[I'm just joshin]

Rosie ODonnell says she's not fat. Geek says that the 10 gadgets hanging out of every pocket makes him look sexy. Linus says that Linux is the best OS ever. Ballmer says the chair threw itself. Pot denys that the kettle is black.

Re:...what the!?

[jellomizer]

Well it is not that Jobs is irreplaceable but Jobs is heart of the company. The reason for Apples success lately was because the systems follows Jobs vision of a computer. Microsoft and Dell tend to compromise what all their customers say they want and put it in. Apple just put in what Jobs like. Hence being able to Switch OS's and Platforms without missing a beat. Democracy doesn't always come up with the best solution just one that everyone can deal with. Apple either you love it or you hate it. Apple does listen to your advice but just because a lot of people want that feature it doesn't mean they will put it in.

Re:Apple with no Jobs?

[wass]

You wrote:
The internet is buzzing withspeculation that Steve Jobs may step down over reports that he profited $7.5 million in stock options by falsifying an executive board meeting. The financial times has a good overview of the unfolding story.

Yet quoting from the Financial Times article you linked to

Mr Jobs later surrendered his options before they were exercised, implying that he did not gain any direct benefit from them. He was later given a grant of restricted stock by the company instead.

So where is all this internet buzz describing how Jobs 'profited' from $7.5 million in stock options that he surrendered without exercising? You might want to RTFA which has many more specifics than your links.

You further claim that Apple 'cleared him' due to speculation, rumors, and falling stock. But please explain how Apple can formally and legally exonerate Jobs without demonstrating exhaustive proof within SEC accounting rules that Jobs wasn't involved. Ie, they handed all results of their internal inquiry directly to the SEC, and if they falsified anything in there they'd be in far more trouble than they are now. And their internal investigation was quite exhaustive, with over 26,000 man hours devoted to this issue.

Also, you'll notice in that NYT article that the focus of the blame seems to lie on two executives (Fred Anderson and Nancy Heinen) that have both subsequently quit Apple since this backdating scam and also have their own independent lawyers ready. And FWIW, I can't find the story now, but an analyst at Piper Jaffray claimed a less than 5% chance Jobs was illegally involved but that as CEO it's standard practice to retain one's own legal counsel for such a situation.