Motorola wants to replace employees' worthless stock options - 4 Mar 2009
Motorola seeking stock option swap
Motorola wants to replace employees' worthless stock options
- March 4, 2009
Motorola Inc.
is proposing a program that would allow its employees to exchange
worthless stock options for a smaller number of new options with a
lower exercise price.
The Schaumburg-based equipment-maker
disclosed the program in a proxy statement filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission.
Motorola's stock closed Tuesday at
$3.30, down 66 percent from a year earlier. A stock option gives an
investor the ability to purchase shares at a fixed price.
In its
proxy statement, the company said 99.8 percent of its stock options
were underwater as of Feb. 12, when the stock closed at $3.38.
Motorola's
board of directors and senior executives are excluded from the proposed
program. Employees would be eligible if they have options that were
granted before June 1, 2007. These options must have an exercise price
above $12 and expire after Dec. 31, 2009. Motorola said 53.6 percent of
employees' stock options met these conditions as of Feb. 12.