Lifting the Lid: Steve Jobs unlikely to face SEC options suit

By Gina Keating

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Steve Jobs is not likely to face a government lawsuit over stock options backdating despite legal actions against a growing number of his former colleagues at Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Pixar Animation Studios.

The two companies are among more than 200 swept up in government probes into whether they gave stock options to employees with dates carefully chosen to ensure maximum profit, a process that is illegal if not properly accounted for.

Jobs appears to have a strong case. As CEO, he may not have known about the legal implications of backdating carried out by subordinates, lawyers say. Internal audits have cleared him, and federal regulators want ironclad cases, rather than a battle against the business icon responsible for the iPod.

But two advisers to Jobs were targeted last month, and two others previously had been accused.

In addition, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Broadcom Communications Corp Chairman Henry Samueli this month alleging backdating fraud, despite a company-commissioned audit that cleared him.

WAITING GAME

"Until the SEC tells you it's over, it isn't over," said Charles Elson, director of the Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. Pointing to the Broadcom case, Elson said the SEC generally considers internal corporate audits "interesting but not relevant."

Apple found widespread backdating without the required corporate accounting.