Pursuing value a good post-boom strategy
SeattlePI | at | by Mike
Goodbye, boom. Hello, reality.
It's a good sign for Washington state that Microsoft is abandoning stock options. The company is looking ahead, not back to the days when Microsoft millionaires put the true jet power in the local economy.
The switch from risky options to handing out stock shares is almost a rite of passage. Microsoft -- 28 this year, older than a fair number of its workers -- is maturing and considering the long run.
Given Microsoft's position in the economy, the decision generated ponderous observations. On its front page, The Wall Street Journal proclaimed, "The golden age of stock options is over." If so, good riddance to the accounting games too many corporate honchos played during the bubble. Microsoft execs portrayed their decision as simply best for their people.