We’ve been reporting about the irregularities with Apple’s backdated stock options. Whether Apple’s main man Steve Jobs was a part of this or not has been debated lively, but not too long ago he was considered free of guilt. The CFO at the time, Fred Anderson, has now said that Jobs ensured him that the options were approved by the board. He says that he warned Jobs back in January 2001 of changing the dates of the options which in the end led to that six high-ranking officers received 4.8 million stock options. Jobs ensured him that the board had approved the backdating. All in all Apple saved $19 million in expenses doing so.
Neither Jobs attorney nor Apple has chosen to comment directly on the conversations between Anderson and Jobs, but refers to the fact that SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) has chosen not to prosecute Jobs.
Anderson’s statement is contradictory to what Apple has claimed. Jobs was said to be unaware of the tinkered dates, but according to Anderson he was well aware. Analysts seem to believe Anderson more than Apple and this led to that Apple’s stock dropped by 3%.
