Marvel CEO's good timing on Stock Options Grants - 23 Sep 2009

Maybe it's just a coincidence, but Ike Perlmutter was granted 1.27
million in stock options just a few weeks after his subordinate began
informal talks with Disney about how the two companies could work
together. That conversation led to Disney offering to buy Marvel for $4
billion - and thanks to the stock options, Perlmutter stands to pick up
more than $34 million. That's still loose change, relatively speaking,
to the $1.5 billion he stands to gain by virtue of his 37 percent stake
in Marvel. Still, the timing of those options is bound to raise
questions about who knew what and when. From the WSJ:

According to [an SEC] filing, David Maisel, chairman of
Marvel's film division, met with Disney's CEO, Robert Iger, on Feb. 18,
2009, "to discuss ways in which the relationship between the two
companies could be expanded." The document, filed late Tuesday, adds
that Mr. Maisel didn't mention the meeting to anyone else at Marvel,
including his boss, Mr. Perlmutter, because the conversation was
"general" in nature. Less than two weeks later, on March 2, Mr.
Perlmutter was granted options for 514,354 Marvel shares with an
exercise price of $25.86. On March 23, he was granted options to buy
another 750,000 shares for $23.15 each.

Iger and Maisel next met on June 2, which apparently is when the
takeover discussions really got going. The proposed deal was announced
on Aug. 30. Here's another weird bit of timing:

For years, Marvel in early March has awarded its executives
restricted stock, not options. Only Mr. Perlmutter received options
instead of restricted stock this year, according to the filing, which
said the options "could provide him with a greater incentive to
continue and improve upon his strong performance."

The LAT had reported on the basics of the SEC filing this morning.

*It was footnoted.org that first reported on the the timing behind Perlmutter's option deal.\\

http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2009/09/marvel_ceos_good_tim.php