Two members of Appleis special committee investigating possible backdated stock option grants may be involved in backdating issues themselves. The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple board members Jerome York and Eric Schmidt are potentially too close to some stock option grants from Apple and Novell.
Jerome York recused himself from the committeeis investigation of grant options that occurred during a three month period because he considered himself directly involved in those matters. Prior to his service on Appleis board of directors, Mr. York was a former chief financial officer for IBM. Until recently, he also served on General Motors Corp. board of directors.
Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, also serves on Appleis board. Prior to working for Google, he was chairman and chief executive officer for Novell Inc. Currently, Novell is conducting an internal investigation into its options granting actions, some of which occurred while Mr. Schmidt was with the company. The company has delayed reporting its third-quarter financials while it awaits the reviewis outcome.
The third board member on Appleis committee is former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. He joined the board after the options under review were granted.