HP agrees to settle backdating suit for $117.5M
Hewlett-Packard has agreed in principle to resolve the stock-options back-dating suit facing Mercury Interactive, a company it acquired in 2006, for US$117.5 million.
The settlement is pending and needs to be approved by the judge presiding over the case at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, HP said in a statement. The case was filed by the Mercury Pension Fund Group, a group of pension funds that hold Mercury stock, which alleged former Mercury Interactive executives improperly backdated stock options.
The settlement was six times higher than any previous backdating settlement, according to a statement from Labaton Sucharow, the law firm representing Mercury Pension Fund Group.
HP acquired Mercury Interactive for US$4.5 billion in July 2006. That year, Mercury was forced to restate its earnings for fiscal years 2002 to 2004 as previous statements failed to recognize compensation from internal stock-option grants.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probed Mercury's accounting in 2005 and questioned the company's handling of compensation based on backdated stock-option grants. A probe by a committee of Mercury's board revealed that over the past decade Mercury had incorrectly reported the dates of at least 49 stock-option grants, picking a date on which the stock price was lower than when the option was actually granted.
The investigation led to the resignation of then-CEO Amnon Landan, Chief Financial Officer Douglas Smith and General Counsel Susan Skaer.
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The 2007 security hall of shame 27 December, 2007 07:47:46
Bad breaches, ghastly gaffes and five people we'd like to forgetHow bad was 2007 for breaches, vulnerabilities and similar mayhem? On the bright side, it was better than 2008 is forecast to be. With more of every sort of meltdown predicted -- more criminalization of the hacker community, more Web-application attacks, more phishing, more spamming, more zero-day attacks and more virtualization-related threats -- we're happy to tell you that you are likely to look back on 2007 as the peaceful old days. - +
The Microsoft-Yahoo deal: How does it compare? 05 February, 2008 08:42:34
See how the deal compares to memorable high-tech acquisitions by Microsoft's main competitorsEven by the bloated standards of high-tech mergers and acquisitions, Microsoft's proposed purchase of Yahoo appears to be the largest ever among technology firms. It is certainly Microsoft's largest. The company mostly buys smaller firms for less than a billion dollars to fill in gaps in its product lineup. But that may be changing. Last year, for instance, Microsoft bought Seattle online advertising firm aQuantive for US$6 billion, its largest ever until the long-rumored Yahoo deal was unveiled on Friday. - +
Dell reinventing itself, but support issues linger 20 December, 2007 07:30:53
Its efforts have been positive, but some users still have doubtsDell's efforts to reinvent itself this year through a dramatic break from its direct-sales model, expanded services and new enterprise offerings have shown positive early results, but some users have lingering concerns about supply chain management and support -- long-time issues for the company. - +
Bill Gates: A New Approach to Capitalism in the 21st Century 28 January, 2008 07:12:19
Transcript of Gates speech, and a Q&A at World Economic Forum in Davos, SwitzerlandAs you all may know, in July I'll make a big career change. I'm not worried; I believe I'm still marketable. I'm a self-starter, I'm proficient in Microsoft Office. I guess that's it. Also I'm learning how to give money away. - +
IT people, places and things that matter 24 December, 2007 07:23:06
For their ability to draw your attention, these 10 people, places and things stand out as newsmakers that matterWhat makes a top newsmaker? Sometimes a company generates lots of buzz by doing particularly innovative things, or someone with a catalyzing personality gains notoriety. Other times a hot new product or a spectacular disaster gets the attention of the masses.
Click here for case studies, whitepapers and other useful vendor content 
ARN Panel Sessions: Day 3The last of our panel sessions recorded live at CeBIT 2008. Today, the topic is storage. Data is growing at an enormous rate, so what does the future hold?
Weekly Tech News Update: 21st November 2008Yahoo's CEO says goodbye, Intel introduces a new processor, and robots run wild. All that news and more on this week's World Tech Update
Electronic voting in U.S. electionDoubts about voting machines are lingering in the minds of many Americans as they head to the polls.
When an IT disaster occurs, how handy it would be to push a button and start again as if nothing had happened.
Discover and learn more about CA XOSoft today.
PGP and Ponemon Institute Unveil Inaugural Australian Data Breach Study 2008 20 November, 2008 17:34:00
Symantec Cloud Services Transform Data Centre Operations Through Proactive Management 20 November, 2008 12:06:00
Verizon Business Offers Tips to Building a Successful Unified Communications and Collaboration Plan 20 November, 2008 12:04:00
NetApp Named 2008 Citrix Ready Solution of the Year by Citrix Systems 20 November, 2008 11:33:00
Extreme Networks Ethernet Transport lowers total cost of ownership for carrier metro networks 20 November, 2008 10:21:00
Bankstown Council streamlines their IT with Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008
Deciding it was time for more streamlined operations, Bankstown Council teamed up with OSS Infotech, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. The solution included Microsoft Windows Server, Microsoft SQL Server® and Microsoft Exchange®.
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