Take-Two Says Former CEO Doctored Stock Options
Take-Two Says Former CEO Doctored Stock Options
January 23, 2007
A number of media outlets, including USA Today, have reported that an internal investigation by Grand Theft Auto publisher Take Two Interactive has blamed former CEO Ryan Brant for backdating stock options from 1997-2003. Brant resigned as T2 chairman last October. He stepped down as CEO several years prior.The investigation uncovered no wrongdoing by current executives. However, three former execs who declined to meet with investigators "appear to have had significant involvement in the company's stock-option granting process"
Brant was cited in a 2004 investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which alleged that he and two other former T2 officials inflated company revenues. Although none of the executives named in that case admitted any wrongdoing, Take Two, Brant and the two executives paid penalties of more than $9 million, plus interest.
Reporter Roddy Boyd, who often covers Take Two for the New York Post, has more.
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Posted 11/22/09 at 12:06am
JDKJ: You should get Phil McCraken to help you spackle those banisters.
JDKJ: You should get Phil McCraken to help you spackle those banisters.
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:57pm
ZippyDSMlee: Oh in the pirate hunter article I need my song ieda heckled DS,JD,Beemon sic im !!!
ZippyDSMlee: Oh in the pirate hunter article I need my song ieda heckled DS,JD,Beemon sic im !!!
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:56pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:no I am tried from prepping the banisters for painting , worked on them from 12 to 4 and 6 to 8...after I got back from the store...got up early got ready...blah...been up all day..I need a nap...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:no I am tried from prepping the banisters for painting , worked on them from 12 to 4 and 6 to 8...after I got back from the store...got up early got ready...blah...been up all day..I need a nap...
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:42pm
JDKJ: No. You gonna stay up late tonight soldering?
JDKJ: No. You gonna stay up late tonight soldering?
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:41pm
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:Don't you mean Mctite?
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:Don't you mean Mctite?
Posted 11/21/09 at 11:33pm
JDKJ: @Zip: Neil, Bob, and Lik McTaint. The McTaint brothers. LOL!!!
JDKJ: @Zip: Neil, Bob, and Lik McTaint. The McTaint brothers. LOL!!!
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:44pm
Flamespeak: I still think military personell, killing other military personell, on a military complex should be handled by military courts.
Flamespeak: I still think military personell, killing other military personell, on a military complex should be handled by military courts.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:43pm
Flamespeak: I could see this a mixture of the two charges rather than just one or the other.
Flamespeak: I could see this a mixture of the two charges rather than just one or the other.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:43pm
Flamespeak: I think this was mainly a person who snapped, but evidence is showing he definitely had strong inlinations to islamic-extremism.
Flamespeak: I think this was mainly a person who snapped, but evidence is showing he definitely had strong inlinations to islamic-extremism.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:41pm
Flamespeak: People are trying to claim that Hasan's actions were not terrorism. I don't jump on the 'terror train' like others, however
Flamespeak: People are trying to claim that Hasan's actions were not terrorism. I don't jump on the 'terror train' like others, however
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:38pm
mentor07825: Britain certainly does deserve it! And the French! God damn it, it was a hand ball!!!
mentor07825: Britain certainly does deserve it! And the French! God damn it, it was a hand ball!!!
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: mentor07825:Well Brittan dose deserve it....
ZippyDSMlee: mentor07825:Well Brittan dose deserve it....
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:33pm
ZippyDSMlee: Alyric:I don;t hasliburton having to pay back billoins... don;t you love it when the rich roll over the goverment without a care?
ZippyDSMlee: Alyric:I don;t hasliburton having to pay back billoins... don;t you love it when the rich roll over the goverment without a care?
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:32pm
mentor07825: I say we nuke the whales, for the benefit of both mankind and the environment.
mentor07825: I say we nuke the whales, for the benefit of both mankind and the environment.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:28pm
Austin_Lewis: I say we try Al Gore too. I always said he was in on the racket.
Austin_Lewis: I say we try Al Gore too. I always said he was in on the racket.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:16pm
Alyric: The leaked information proves these organizations knowingly defrauded governments (i.e., taxpayers) out of billions of dollars. Yet there will probably never be a trial.
Alyric: The leaked information proves these organizations knowingly defrauded governments (i.e., taxpayers) out of billions of dollars. Yet there will probably never be a trial.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:15pm
Flamespeak: working on other things makes me angry. I might have had a jet pack by now. :p
Flamespeak: working on other things makes me angry. I might have had a jet pack by now. :p
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:14pm
Flamespeak: Just thinking of all the time and manpower wasted to try and make things emit less CO2 emmision that could have been spent
Flamespeak: Just thinking of all the time and manpower wasted to try and make things emit less CO2 emmision that could have been spent
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:07pm
Alyric: @Zip: FYI, the construction of solar panels puts out more pollution than any form of energy production. To say nothing of the toxic components of the panels that cannot be recycled.
Alyric: @Zip: FYI, the construction of solar panels puts out more pollution than any form of energy production. To say nothing of the toxic components of the panels that cannot be recycled.
Posted 11/21/09 at 09:04pm
ZippyDSMlee: I know I know not the point.
ZippyDSMlee: I know I know not the point.
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Comments
Take-Two Interactive is being blamed for a lot of things and being ambushed just like the warriors and I hope that, like the warriors, they make it through the hard times and survive the attacks from the anti-game activists and the people on Wall Street, who don't like them. Just like the warriors, they find themselves being attacked for no good reason other than people are stupid. Also, watch the film "The Warriors." It's one of the greatest films ever and the greatest film made before 1980. It rocks.
They broke regulations.. and possible laws.
God damn.
60%? If I had any say in it, they would take away 100% of any money they obtained while defrauding the company, and they should also be thrown in jail for fraud. After all, a corporation is technically a public business, and if someone robs it, they should be jailed. Stock fraud is almost as bad as going out and robbing a store at gunpoint, so why do the CEOs get to keep the money they stole and avoid jail time?
And therein lies the problem with granting stock options. My company has very strick rules about how options can be "cashed in". I don't know if they were put in place in response to stuff like this, but they're pretty clear about the need for transparency and lots of documentation so if something fishy goes on, there's a clear trail.
Ryan Brant, the ex-CEO of the video game publisher Take-Two, pleaded guilty to charges of backdating and agreed to pay $7.3 million to settle two options-related cases. Brant is Take-Two's founder. He apologized for his actions: "I am deeply sorry......