Walt Disney Co. has confirmed that options at Pixar Inc. were backdated before its takeover of the computer-animation studio. However, it has said that no one now associated with Disney committed ‘any intentional or deliberate acts of misconduct’. The statement seems to suggest that Steve Jobs, a Disney director and Pixar’s founder, will not be blamed by Disney over an arrangement of doubtful options grants at Pixar.
Steve Jobs, the former chairman and chief executive of Pixar, is at present a Disney director and the largest shareholder of the media company, after Disney compensated more than $8 billion last year for acquiring Pixar. The internal inquiry conducted by the company cleared Jobs of any misconduct in issuing backdated stock options in Pixar.
However, the company has said that it would hand over the results of its inquiry to the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are also investigating irregularities regarding the backdated options grants at Pixar. The official statement released by Disney Chairman John Pepper Jr. did not inquire deep into the details of the investigation. Therefore, it is still not clear that who received rigged options, when they were issued or why.
However, filings with the SEC put on view four of the Emeryville studio’s executives, namely John Lasseter, Sarah McArthur, Ann Mather and Edwin Catmull, had received options pegged to the some of the lowest stock prices of the year between 1997 and 2000. Pixar and Apple are among more than 200 companies being investigated by firm itself or SEC into their options grants on concern they were manipulated to enrich executives.
