Steve Jobs Controversy Over Stock Options Deal

Sources at The Wall Street Journal claim to have discovered Jobs gave a questionable stock options bonus to John Lasseter when he signed with Pixel.

The contract in question was finalized in March 2001 and granted Lasseter 1 million shares whose value was wrongfully backdated in December 2000, three months before the contract has been completed. The date was, coincidentally, the same date Pixar's share value was at its lowest. This bonus gave the freshly hired film director about 6.4 million dollars in profit.

Steve Jobs was then CEO at Pixar and he helped negotiate the deal and put together all the details for the contract. He then signed the papers in order for them to take effect. Still, the CEO may have not chosen the date himself, thus limiting his involvement. The fact remains that if his signature is on the papers, then he was aware and agreed with the terms of the contract.

Where stock and shares are concerned, Jobs is still under close watch for irregularities at Apple. The CEO has been questioned by federal investigators for several misdated stock options grants.

Wendy Howell, a former attorney with Apple, is supposed to have stated the false documents were created after specific instructions given by Apple management. She was dismissed from her position in the company in December of last year. Apple said no illegal actions were taken by any member of management, according to their internal investigation.

Both Steve Jobs and John Lasseter were nowhere to be found and had no comment to the Wall Street Journal. Disney, the parent company of Pixar, also chose not to comment on the matter, at this time.