IP: Re: Tech Workers' Stock Options Turn Into Tax Nightmares:

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

>To: farber@cis.upenn.edu
>Subject: Re: IP: Re: Tech Workers' Stock Options Turn Into Tax Nightmares:
>Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 17:25:58 -0400
>From: On request deleted
>
>
>[if you forward to IP, kindly keep anonymous, this has elements of one of
>those religious wars and I don't want to lose the next two weeks arguing...]
>
>Maybe I'm old fashioned but I react that these guys lost due to greed.
>
>They exercised their stock options, but chose to hold stock rather than
>sell, so they could reduce their taxes.  (I.e. they had a nice gain but
>wanted more and decided to risk their tax liability).  But then they forgot
>to watch the market price (or get a good broker to watch the market for them)
>and sell when the stock went down.  They bet on the bubble and lost.
>(Yes there are a few folks whose stock went into freefall so fast that
>in a matter of minutes it zipped past the point where they could sell and
>save themselves -- but my sense is not many).
>
>They knew the risks -- deciding to hold the stock rather than sell means
>they read the option grant rules so they knew that holding could save
>them taxes.



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