In all, more than 170 companies have been investigated by U.S. authorities or have conducted internal inquiries into the manipulation of option grant dates, a practice that often artificially inflates company stock prices. When an executive exercises an options grant, but backdates it to a time when the share price was lower, he or she instantly profits from the difference.
On Thursday, the former general counsel of Web job giant Monster Worldwide pleaded guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud related to options backdating. On Wednesday, the former CEO of Take Two Interactive Software, publisher of the popular video game series "Grand Theft Auto" pled guilty to the same charges.