Mark Maremont and James Bandler file the WSJ story on the results of Barnes & Noble‘s internal investigation revealing “pervasive backdating and misdating of stock options… to enhance compensation for insiders.” To the grand total, apparently, of $45.4 million—but it was all an innocent misunderstanding, the investigators insist:
“Barnes & Noble said its internal probe found that senior managers incorrectly believed that it was ‘permissable to select a date other than the actual approval date’ for an option award, if the date was ‘reasonably close’ to the approval date and the resulting price didn’t result in ‘corporate waste.'”
In other words, it’s okay to float your executives a little ill-gotten gain, but, you know, don’t get greedy about it. That said, the official press release notes that “more than 3,300 Company employees were recipients of stock options during the period reviewed and that the overwhelming majority of people who received grants were employees who were not members of senior management or directors of the Company,” so at least they were spreading it around. The release also highlights the blame placed on “administrative delays, a lack of a clearly defined process and poor record keeping,” though the Journal story underlines the possibility that B&N’s outside counsel seems to have told them not to worry about it.