Despite a series of high-profile executive firings and resignations connected with the backdating of stock options that are shaking the US technology industry, the president of Adobe believes there will be little effect on the availability of stock option programs to employees.
Shantanu Narayen, president and chief operating officer of Adobe Systems, said in an interview in Tokyo on Thursday that stock options are too vital a piece of the package that Silicon Valley companies can offer potential employees.
"Options in the Valley have clearly been a mechanism by which people attract talented employees to come to their companies," he said. "What I can say is that the Valley has certainly benefited from options being one of the ways in which the vibrancy of companies in the Valley has grown. From our perspective, we look at options as a way of attracting talented employees. We cannot afford to be at a competitive disadvantage to other companies who are offering options to these talented employees," Narayen said.
His comments came hours after Adobe announced the results of an internal investigation into its own stock options program. The review found "no fraud or intentional wrongdoing" but did uncover some issues. Adobe said the financial impact of these issues would be immaterial.