BusinessWeek Online Article Argues for Broad-Based Options

The September 20 edition of BusinessWeek Online contains a persuasive article by commentator Chris Farrell (also heard on NPR's "Sound Money" program) titled "Stock Options for All." Farrell argues that CEOs are getting far too much already and could easily give up some of their options to spread them further down to employees. Noting the research linking broad-based options to corporate performance, he writes that "not enough focus has been put on the real problem with stock options: Too many have gone to senior management and not enough to rank-and-file employees...[C]ompanies should use options to spread the wealth, recognizing that much of shareholder value in the new economy is created by a corporate culture that values human and intellectual capital throughout the organization." The article can be found here.

Farrell's message is one that most of the media have missed, as their focus on stock options has generally been on executives. We encourage readers to e-mail his article to people who might gain from seeing it.