Options scandal's victims: staff morale, investor trust

摘要

The flap over the tech industry's stock options scandal is spreading like wildfire across the valuable acreage of Silicon Valley, and both investor confidence and employee morale lie in the likely path of destruction. At least 19 high-tech companies have acknowledged that their past stock option grants are being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Attorney's Office or both. Many of those companies, as well as several others, face shareholder lawsuits challenging their historical option-granting practices. Some have acknowledged that they will have to restate at least some past earnings to account for improper grants. Most have seen their share prices decline— in four cases by more than 10 percent—since disclosing they were being investigated.