Bonum Certa Men Certa

Did Microsoft Pay Millions of Dollars to Hide Information About Financial Malpractice?

Money on a dark desk



Summary: On the face of it, Microsoft essentially bribes its former CFO to keep quiet about what he knows; the mainstream press reveals some very damning information

THIS morning we wrote about Microsoft tax dodge/evasion which was facilitated by a former Microsoft general manager who is now working for the government. A couple of years ago we also wrote about Microsoft paying millions of dollars for a former employee to keep quiet about financial fraud that he exposed. Charles Pancerzewski was paid $4 million to keep quiet [1, 2]. If his allegations were flawed (which they were not, as there was concrete evidence that the judge accepted and the SEC then stepped in), why would Microsoft shell out so much money for his silence?



According to this new article from CFO.com, Microsoft's previous CFO, who abruptly quit the company a few months ago, mirrors some of the above. Microsoft gave him a gift of $1.9 million. [via Joseph Tartakoff]

The sum, to be paid in two equal installments on December 31, 2009, and March 31, 2010, comes in exchange for promising not to sue or otherwise disparage Microsoft after his departure, the tech giant recently disclosed in its most recent quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Such payouts are often written into employment contracts at the outset of a CFO's tenure as protection from the career risks of making big gambles on corporate strategy. But some experts say Liddell's was out of the ordinary since he did not have an employment contract or other explicit promise of such a sum. In fact, Microsoft's most recent proxy, filed at the end of September, claims its top executives "are not entitled to any payments upon termination of their employment or following a change of control of Microsoft" except under certain conditions that did not apply to Liddell. (Speaking through a GM spokesperson, Liddell said he would have no comment.)

[...]

While that raises questions about why Liddell might have left Microsoft after four and a half years there, at least part of the "quo" is spelled out in the extremely detailed resignation letter Liddell signed, also filed with the SEC.

The letter contained all the standard promises, such as that Liddell would not sue or disparage the company or disclose any of its secrets, but with some language that is highly specific for such contracts.


Wow.

“No reporter worth there salt should have been reporting unaudited numbers. They should have learnt their lesson from Enron.”
      --Oiaohm
Microsoft essentially faked its financial results at the end of last month [1, 2, 3, 4]. This is something that we showed.

As our reader Oiaohm pointed out two weeks ago (in IRC), "Now I know what the problem is. (Unaudited) cannot be entered into sharemarket trackers... Now big question why in 31 days they could not got their reports Audited that is a big thing. I don't know the USA sharemarket audit requirements... Here its use a government and asx approved firm for auditing. Does not cost much as long as you have all you paperwork in order... Problem I have with those MS numbers since they are not audited they can be doing a big E... No reporter worth there salt should have been reporting unaudited numbers. They should have learnt their lesson from Enron."

It looks rather possible that Microsoft is still committing financial fraud. The article above confirmed a long-held suspicion backed by a lot of evidence. It's not far fetched at all for a company that allegedly has orgies and drug parties these days [1, 2]. Perhaps it's time for the SEC to pay Microsoft another visit (as it did some years ago after another case of financial fraud that Microsoft had paid to suppress).

A lot of people blew the whistle on Bernard Madoff but their complaints were repeatedly ignored for Madoff had the reputation of a rich man. Only when he turned himself in did regulators take this seriously. Given that a Microsoft shareholder compared Ballmer and Bill Gates to Bernard Madoff just a year ago, it's probably time to investigate. The "shut up" money that Microsoft paid Chris Liddell ought to be overridden by the law's needs.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Comparing U.E.F.I. to B.I.O.S. (Bloat and Insecurity to K.I.S.S.)
By Sami Tikkanen
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
"In celebration of RMS's birthday, we've been playing a bit. We extracted some quotes from the various articles, comments, letters, writings, etc. and put them in the form of a slideshow in the home page."
Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
Desktop Operating System Market Share Thailand
António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
 
People Don't Just Kill Themselves (Same for Other Animals)
And recent reports about Boeing whistleblower John Barnett
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 18, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 18, 2024
Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/03/2024: A Society That Lost Focus and Abandoning Social Control Media
Links for the day
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 18/03/2024: LLM Inference and Can We Survive Technology?
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 17, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
Links 17/03/2024: Microsoft Windows Shoves Ads Into Third-Party Software, More Countries Explore TikTok Ban
Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
Open Invention Network (OIN) Fails to Explain If Linux is Safe From Microsoft's Software Patent Royalties (Charges)
Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
USPTO Corruption: People Who Don't Use Microsoft Will Be Penalised ~$400 for Each Patent Filing
Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
Links 17/03/2024: Abuses Against Human Rights, Tesla Settlement (and Crash)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 16, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, March 16, 2024
Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
Suffice to say, we're not meaning to imply Taliban is "good"
Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day