Warren Buffet Speaks Up On Options Issue
from the if-they're-not-an-expense,-what-are-they? dept
There's been an ongoing argument about whether or not stock options should be counted as an expense. Tech companies have been very vocal against such a plan. Suddenly, they say, it will make it much more difficult for them to incent employees. Now, Warren Buffet has written a column supporting the other side. To him, stock options are obviously an expense. As you would expect, many of his points are valid. However, I'm not sure his arguments about how to price options apply as much to private startup companies - since there's no real market for those options.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Uh-huh
At Berkshire, we frequently buy companies that awarded options to their employees -- and then we do away with the option program.
I can attest to that. I was lured to a company with the promise of employee ownership (aka stock), but the company was later bought by Mr. "I have my billions and the rest of you can go screw yourselves" Buffett. Needless to say, I ain't there anymore.
[ link to this | view in thread ]