You’re Free to Go

So that’s that; the big brouhaha over Steve Jobs’s stock options has finally, officially blown over. It seems the 6th generation iPod and 1st generation iPhone are both safe for now. Disney Board Clears Current Pixar Execs (Yahoo News) has more information, but it basically boils down to:

“Although the manipulation itself isn’t necessarily illegal, securities laws require that companies properly disclose the practice in their accounting and settle any resulting charges.”

That’s it? Just a little tax-auditing error? Really? It’s hard to say, of course. if Disney/Pixar/Apple is determined to let it go, then there’s not much anyone can do about it. There is much that in the legal system that a layman would consider illegal, but is, instead, only highly immoral and unethical, but perfectly legal. Steve Jobs was jubilant, as evidenced by his blog entry, Watch me make an options scandal disappear! (The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs)

“Disney’s official report is out. The verdict: I’m innocent. No harm, no foul. Were options backdated? Yes. Was I the largest shareholder? Yes. Was I running the company? Yes. Am I to blame? No. Does this make sense? Absolutely.”