I'll bet you I'm not the only one who's ever fantasized about being able to go back in time (knowing everything I do now) and make a mint picking stocks, creating Harry Potter and becoming Microsoft Employee number 6, (complete with pre-IPO stock options). It's a vivid fantasy, but alas, nothing more. You see, like most other people, I have no time machine.
Not so for some executives who are living out my fantasy. That's right, a new scandal is looming: a number of public companies are being investigated by the SEC for backdating the stock options of select employees. Sycamore Networks has received a subpoena; Rambus Inc. is dutifully performing an internal investigation; Quest Software disclosed that the SEC has been inquiring. Even McAfee, the firm that cleans viruses and other unpleasantries from your computer is cleaning its own house.
It's such a fabulously simple idea. They just issue options and then choose a date with the most advantgeous strike price. While they're at it, maybe one of them can produce a backdated copyright to a story about a boy wizard who lives under a staircase....
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