News Byte

Cisco CEO Chambers Files to Sell Shares

Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers has adopted a plan to sell a combined 2.8 million shares of the company’s shares by mid 2014 in a pre-arranged plan, according to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Chambers will sell 1.3 million shares awarded under a plan approved in 2005 and another 1.5 million shares from other holdings. The shares terminate in September 2014. As of Friday’s closing price of $19.96 a share, the shares would be worth $56 million. Cisco shares fell Friday by more than 1 percent, but have risen by more than 10 percent this year.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff Just Got a Raise

Pretty soon, it all adds up to, you know …

In a Post-Facebook IPO World, SecondMarket Evolves Away From Internet Companies

SecondMarket has done $418 million in business in the first three quarters of this year, down 3 percent from last year.

Oracle CEO Ellison Got a Big Raise in 2012

It’s good to be Larry.

News Byte

Google Sales Boss Nikesh Arora Gets An $8 Million Payday

Nikesh Arora, who runs Google’s ad business, is set to cash an $8 million paycheck next month. The one-time payout, disclosed via an SEC filing today, is compensation for a chunk of stock and option grants he’s giving up as part of a new pay package. Last year Arora made $23 million, most of which came from stock and options.

Voices

Zynga Leans on Some Workers to Surrender Pre-IPO Shares

Zynga Inc. Chief Executive Mark Pincus often gave shares rather than high salaries to his top talent as he built his online-game start-up.

HP’s New CEO Takes $1 Annual Salary and Lots of Stock Options

Meg Whitman’s annual paycheck to run Hewlett-Packard: $1. Her potential stock-based compensation: A lot more than that.

That’s Gotta Hurd: Former HP CEO Forfeits $13.6 Million in Options to Settle Suit

The controversy over Oracle’s newest employee, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd, has ended as quickly as it began. Moments ago, HP issued a statement reaffirming its long-term strategic partnership with rival Oracle and announcing the resolution of its breach-of-contract suit against Hurd. The agreement’s terms are confidential, but it did come at a price for Hurd: The forfeiture of 345,000 restricted HP shares that he had been given as part of his exit package.

What Was That You Said, Greg? It’s Not Illegal if You Don’t Get Caught?

Former Brocade Communications Systems CEO Greg Reyes’s luck took a turn for the worse last week when he was once again found guilty of securities fraud. Though it acquitted him on one count of conspiracy, a federal jury on Friday found Reyes guilty on nine counts of securities fraud and making false statements–the same ones overturned last August because of prosecutorial misconduct.

Palm Posts Loss, Announces Stock Offering

Perhaps Palm really does have the “special sauce” needed to attain smart phone leadership, as RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky recently claimed. Reporting first-quarter results this afternoon, the company posted a narrower-than-expected loss, said it shipped 823,000 smart phones during the quarter and announced plans for a common stock offering of 16 million shares.

Heck of a Job, Karmi

Monster: Backdating BAD

GFAIL

eBay Plans Options Water Safety Course

Backdating Settlement in Motion, Redux

Yah-ewww

Broadcom Co-Founder: Up in Smoke

iPhone to Take Off, Eh?