Bono’s partner pays up $3.5 million – because he’s done nothing wrong

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Dennis Howlett covers the option backdating scandal at Apple today and provides links to useful stuff. Reuters summarise the story like this:

Fred Anderson, Apple's ex-chief financial officer, has settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on his alleged participation in the backdating of stock options, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Monday.

Anderson agreed to a fine of about $150,000 and to repay option gains of about $3.5 million under the settlement but won't admit to any wrongdoing, the paper reported, citing unnamed sources.

The statement from Fred Andersen makes interesting reading. I've never seen anyone say it was someone else's fault so clearly without quite shouting 'it was him'. As Dennis says:

Everything I've read about Steve Jobs indicates a man who while brilliant is a control freak. I cannot believe that a man of Jobs intellectual talent did not know the implications of what transpired between them.

Frankly, I agree. I can't believe it either. And I agree with Dennis on this as well:

My view is that if the SEC allows Jobs a free pass then its ability to provide an effective oversight role will be severely dented.

Not that the SEC has much credibility anyway. But there was one other little bit at the end of the statement from Fred Andersen that caught my eye:

Fred looks forward to continuing his career as a Founder and Managing Director of Elevation Partners.

Who is Fred's partner in Elevation Partners? Well, it's Bono, of course. He has a knack for picking people. He's bought into Forbes, and here he's got a man who pays out over $3.5 million for doing nothing wrong. Just like you do.


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