payout

Facebook looks to California law to speed up Instagram payout

Drawing upon a little-known California law, Facebook is reportedly looking to hasten the payout of its Instagram purchase.

Typically with deals like this companies have to first register with the Securities and Exchange Commission but if the social network is able to use the California law it could save the company time and money. Only six states, including California, allow for this SEC exemption.

According to the Financial Times (subscription required), Facebook has scheduled an August 29 "fairness hearing" with the California Department of Corporations in San Francisco to discuss the terms and conditions of the proposed payout.… Read more

Why technology companies loathe dividends

Ask a technology company about the prospects for a dividend and publicly, you'll probably get a boring boilerplate answer about timing, the right use of cash, and its commitment to honoring fiduciary duties.

Inside, however, that company is probably snickering and dismissing the idea completely.

Why are technology companies--even major bellwethers sitting on a lot of cash--reluctant to pay a dividend? The short answer: it's uncool.

For most companies, paying a dividend is the ultimate admission that the growth phase (also known as the fun period) is over. Dividends are more associated with safe industries like utility companies, … Read more

Chrome gets fixed; researcher gets paid

The stable version of Google Chrome for Windows has been updated with three critical security fixes and an announcement that the first payouts to crowd-sourced security researchers have been delivered.

Chrome 4.0.249.89 repairs serious problems found in processing the < ruby > tag, and two integer overflows that affected the JavaScript engine and deserialized the sandbox message. Google has a policy of not revealing more information about security fixes until a majority of users have updated their browser.

Other security fixes issued in this release include several medium and low level risks, encompassing proxy behavior, redirection target … Read more

CEO exit packages are out of control

When most of us quit a job, we give two weeks notice, collect our final check and we're out the door. Maybe we have some stock options to exercise within 30 days, but that's about it. When we get fired it's even simpler - same thing except no notice.

In a prior post, we discussed strategies for negotiating an exit package - a sort of self-inflicted layoff. If you're lucky and a great negotiator, that might get you a few months of salary, stock option vesting, and extension of benefits, depending on your management level and longevity with the company.

So, when we exit a company through whichever door, we're talking a few thousand bucks if you're a regular Joe, maybe up to six figures if you're a VP who's been with the company a while.

CEO exit packages are similar in concept to those mere mortals might hope to negotiate, but that's where the similarity ends. The end result is more like hitting the lottery.… Read more