So says a new article from Portfolio Magazine which profiles Bob Brenner, head of Kroll's business intelligence group for the U.S. and Canada.

For the record, Brenner declined the Jobs-tailing assignment on behalf of Kroll. It had been requested by a hedge fund that wanted to get to the bottom of the Apple chief's seeming ill health...

-- MDT

Labels: Allied Capital, Bob Brenner, David Einhorn, Kroll, Steve Jobs

Glad that this is out of the way so that Steve and Co. can make with the new laptops next month. My 1.5 Ghz Powerbook is getting a little long in the tooth.

-- MDT

Labels: Apple, backdating, Steve Jobs

We'll see if they gain any more traction via this new civil suit. The last run through saw Apple jettison its general counsel, among others.

-- MDT

Labels: Apple, backdating, Steve Jobs, stock options

With Steve Jobs, at this point, apparently not facing legal action for his role in Apple's stock option backdating kerfluffle, attention has turned to the Apple board and how it conducts itself. The board features a few folks you may have heard of including former Vice President, Al Gore and Google boss, Eric Shmidt.

The San Francisco Gate has the details.

-- MDT

Labels: Apple, backdating, Fred Anderson, Steve Jobs, stock options

Was there ever any doubt?

Details at Tech-Blorge.

-- MDT

Labels: Apple, investigation, Steve Jobs, stock options

This San Francisco Chronicle article does a good job of laying why Jobs should still be sweating (if only in private) his 2001 stock option grants. Jobs has already passed through one options investigation untouched, that of, Pixar the animation house he bought of George Lucas for a song and then turned into a creative powerhouse.

But backdating issues with Jobs's gig at Apple, Inc. still loom large. There's a lot of smoke and maybe a bit of fire too. After all it would seem fortuitous for Job's to have accepted options backdated to just four days before Apple made the announcement of its first iPod...until you recall that the iPod was widely derided as a flop-in-the-making.

The Daily Caveat thinks Jobs'll skate...but time will tell.

-- MDT

Labels: Apple, backdating, Steve Jobs, stock options

There are certainly plenty of business medial pundits out there that have weighed in on the stock options backdating with their contention that imbroglio is much ado about nothing. And yet 160 some odd companies are either currently under or facing potential federal investigation and executives have been dropping right and left.

Heck, one guy even fled the country and initiated an international man-hunt.

One of the most prominent options inquiries has been that of Apple Computer (excuse me...Apple, Inc.) and CEO, Steve Jobs. It looked as if Jobs might skate initially because he essentially grew no benefit from the options that were awarded him. Apple's own internal investigation cried no harm no foul and it seemed that the story might just fade away into the din and roar preceding the much anticipated debut of Apple's iPhone.

But the story didn't quite die there. Just when the Apple options issue seemed to be dying down, it was brought roaring back to life by the admission that the minutes of the meeting where Jobs' stock options were granted had been falsified - that no board approval of the grant had taken place. Apple must have known that there was more to in because the quietly fired the execs involved, including long time general counsel, Nancy Heinen and Apple CFO Fred Anderson.

This prompted some to call for Steve Jobs resignation, although no one within Apple itself, notably. And that kind of standing by your man is what Peter Burrows over at BusinessWeek would like us to think of as The Steve Jobs Effect.

And he thinks its catching....

Labels: Apple, backdating, Comverse, Fred Anderson, Kobi Alexander, Nancy Heinen, Steve Jobs, stock options