My Latest Screed

Last week a bunch of former execs at a well-known Silicon Valley company were cited in criminal and civil complaints for stock-options fraud. This makes me happy. For the record, I have friends who are former employees there, and I wish them nothing but good fortune and success. My friends worked far enough down the food chain in that area where real work is done, and not in the sort of rarified arena where criminal conspiracies are born.

Also for the record, I once interviewed for a job at the company in question, and the interview was an unmitigated disaster. It was my own fault - I wasn't properly prepared, and they were right not to hire me. Call this sour grapes if you will, but I think I would feel the same even if these complaints were filed against another company I had never heard of.

What makes me happy is that these actions by prosecutors and the SEC validate an opinion I've long had: that Silicon Valley's fetish for stock options is a symptom of a sick culture. I wrote a letter to the Mercury News giving my reasons why stock options should be abolished from publicly-traded companies. The paper printed it here.