RIM Founders Face $100M Fine

From DailyTech: Two co-founders of Research In Motion (RIM), the company that brought you the Blackberry, could pay a record $100 million (Canadian) fine if the Ontario Securities Commission in Canada has its way.

Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie have been under investigation by the OSC since 2006 for alleged back-dating of stock options. RIM's board confirmed in 2007 that more than 40 percent of stock options granted to employees since 1996 were back-dated. Twelve of the sixteen option grants, a total of two million shares, were made to the two between 1996 and 2006 were illegally back-dated.

However, the amount that they gained was only $1.6 million (USD) each, which seem like a lot until you compare it to their total net worth of $10 billion combined.

Lazaridis and Balsillie have paid RIM $7.5 million (CAD) each to compensate it for the cost of investigations, lawsuits, and the restatement of financial earnings that were affected by their actions. They also returned the $1.6 million (USD) that they made from the back-dating.

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