The current list of corporate casualties:
Executives Caught in Stock Options Furor
Monday October 16, 4:29 pm ET
List of Company Officials Ensnared in Stock Options Furor
NEW YORK (AP) -- Below are the company officials who, to date, have resigned, retired, have been forced out or suspended because of inappropriate backdating of stock options.
-- UnitedHealth Group Inc., Oct. 15, 2006
The company said that Chairman and Chief Executive William McGuire was stepping down immediately as chairman and as a director. The company said McGuire would continue as CEO until he leaves, "on or before" Dec. 1. The company said board member William G. Spears was resigning, and General Counsel David J. Lubben would retire. The sweeping overhaul at the top of the company comes after an outside report directors commissioned on its options-granting practices.
-- Boston Communications Group Inc., Oct. 12, 2006
The company said President and CEO E.Y. Snowden stepped down and will assume the role of non-executive chairman of its board of directors. In addition, Chief Financial Officer Karen Walker resigned and General Counsel Alan Bouffard retired, effective immediately. The shake-up comes after an internal investigation revealed that the company must restate previous financial reports and that dates of certain stock option grants differ from the recorded grant dates of the awards.
-- McAfee Inc., Oct. 11, 2006
The company said it fired President Kevin Weiss, and announced that CEO and Chairman George Samenuk will retire after a stock options investigation found accounting problems that will require financial restatements.
-- CNet Networks Inc., Oct. 11 2006
The company said Chairman and CEO Shelby Bonnie resigned following a review of the company's stock-options practices. Bonnie, a co-founder of the San Francisco-based company, will remain a member of CNet's board. General Counsel Sharon Le Duy and senior vice president of human resources, Heather McGaughey, also resigned because of the investigation.
-- Monster Worldwide Inc., Oct. 9, 2006
The company announced that founder, Chairman and CEO Andrew J. McKelvey resigned. Mr. McKelvey will remain on the company's Board of Directors and has been elected chairman emeritus. Mr. McKelvey said he can't dedicate the number of hours required by the "additional demands of time associated with the ongoing historical stock option grant review."
-- Apple Computer Inc., Oct. 4, 2006
The company said that Fred Anderson, CFO from 1996 until 2004, resigned from its board of directors and that its mishandling of past stock options had inflated profits.
-- Broadcom Corp., Sept. 19, 2006
The company announced the immediate retirement of William J. Ruehle, senior vice president and CFO, amid a federal probe of its stock options.
-- Monster Worldwide Inc., Sept. 19, 2006
The company said it suspended Myron Olesnyckyj, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary, while it reviews past stock options grant practices.
-- Semtech Corp., Aug. 25, 2006
The company announced that John D. "Jack" Poe has stepped down as chairman and has taken a leave of absence from the board pending the conclusion of the current investigation of stock options practices. Poe was Semtech's CEO from October 1985 to October 2003.
-- Rambus Inc., Aug. 15, 2006
The company said Geoff Tate, who was CEO of the company from 1990 to 2005, plans to resign from the board. Tate was the sole member of the board's stock option committee in prior years when the actual measurement dates for certain stock option grants issued differed from the recorded grant dates for such awards.
-- Opsware Inc., July 12, 2006
The company announced the voluntary and immediate resignation of CFO Sharlene Abrams. On July 5, 2006, the company said Abrams, who is the former CFO of Mercury Interactive Corp., received a so-called Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission related to timing of stock options at Mercury Interactive.
-- SteelCloud Co., June 19, 2006
The company said Chairman Thomas P. Dunne resigned in connection with an internal investigation into stock options he owned. The company said its Audit Committee of the Board investigated Dunne's attempted exercise of certain employee stock options.
-- McAfee Inc., May 30, 2006
The company fired its general counsel, Kent Roberts, for improper conduct involving the software maker's stock options.
-- Brooks Automation Inc., May 18, 2006
The company announced that Amin Khoury and Roger Emerick resigned from the Board of Directors. Khoury and Emerick were the compensation committee members who oversaw the chief executive option grants. The company recently said it would restate seven years of earnings because it incorrectly accounted for certain matters related to stock options.
-- Vitesse Semiconductor Corp., May 17, 2006
The company said it fired CEO Louis R. Tomasetta; Yatin Mody, CFO; and Eugene F. Hovanec, executive vice president. The three executives had already been suspended in April amid questions over how stock options were awarded and other accounting irregularities.
-- Power Integrations Inc., May 5, 2006
The company said both Non-Executive Chairman Howard Earhart and CFO John Cobb resigned on May 4, 2006, as an internal investigation determined stock option grants may have been manipulated and financial restatement could be necessary. Earhart was the company's chief executive from 1995 until 2002.
-- Comverse Technology Inc., May 1, 2006
The company announced the resignations of CEO and Chairman Kobi Alexander, CFO David Kreinberg and William F. Sorin, senior general counsel and corporate secretary amid a company probe of the timing of stock-option grants.
-- Mercury Interactive Corp., Nov. 2, 2005
The company announced that CEO Amnon Landan, CFO Douglas Smith and General Counsel Susan Skaer resigned following an internal investigation into past stock-option grants.
-- Brocade Communications Systems Inc., Jan. 24, 2005
The company announced that Chairman and CEO Greg Reyes resigned but remained a director and will serve as an advisor to the board. The company announced on the same day that it restated its earnings for the last few years following a review by its audit committee into its process for awarding stock options.
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