• MarketWatch, Friday, October 13, 2006 11:45 AM

CNET CEO and co-founder Shelby Bonnie, one of the Internet industry's true pioneers, was forced into resignation earlier this week for knowingly presiding over the backdating of options grants from 1996 to 2003. Bambi Francisco of MarketWatch pays tribute to a man who rode the massive swings of the dot-com boom and bust days. "I've met a lot of CEOs and founders in my day," she says. "Few would or could remain on the front lines for so long." Bonnie has been at CNET since its inception in 1993, and will remain on its board. In a press release, the CNET boss was remorseful: "I apologize for the option-related problems that happened under my leadership... I believe that the company has come a long way since 2003 in addressing these deficiencies, but am deeply disappointed it happened nonetheless."

There are currently some 100 U.S companies embroiled in an options backdating accounting scandal. And heads are rolling. Among those is Apple Computer, whose CEO Steve Jobs recently addressed the matter publicly, saying he knew about it but was unaware of its accounting implications. He did not resign. Bonnie offered no excuses, and it's unclear from his statement how much he really knew about it. It used to be that the SEC required companies to report stock grants within two months of the issue date. Companies would simply wait until their stock hit a low and issue the grant at or near the low point to ensure maximum value for the shareholder. This has always been illegal, but the SEC, because of the two-month rule, wouldn't be able to tell the difference. These days, companies only have two days to report stock option grants to the SEC.

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