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Apple's options investigation is good PR
With an SEC stock-options investigation roiling the tech industry, Apple made a smart PR move and announced it was investigating itself -- before the SEC got around to it. In a statement late Thursday, the company said that it was investigating "irregularities" in stock options granted between 1997 and 2001, including one grant made to CEO Steve Jobs. Jobs's option, however, was cancelled in 2003 before he exercised it, so he didn't gain anything from the grant in question, according to Apple.
Perhaps Apple should be investigating Jobs's business acumen instead. If he'd held onto those options and exercised them instead of trading them in for a restricted stock grant, the shares would now be worth more than $3 billion. But even the visionary Jobs couldn't have predicted Apple's iPod-fueled stock rise. And for Jobs, who's already a billionaire from selling Next Software to Apple, and then Pixar to Disney, his reputation may be more valuable than whatever profit he might have made from exercising possibly tainted options. the most refreshing and only different angle to the story ive read on the subject.
Did we hear anything about the factory? I thought they were investigating that as well.
Is there anything, any event with Apple that will be judged "bad" rather than "good"?
Self-regulation is SOP, not smart PR. What you are really saying is that Apple is doing some fast footwork to get out ahead of an industry issue that could have negative impact on the business. That means the company may have some operational or accounting issues to fix. Smart PR is about communicating best practices and industry leadership to target audiences, not "spinning" financial irregularities. No amount of smart PR can make up for a company with low ethical standards or poor financial controls.
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