Read Online Monahan 01 Options by Rosemarie A D'Amico - Free Book Online
Authors: Rosemarie A D'Amico
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worked, tripled their salaries and gave them stock options. Rick Cox only made things worse. The man managed to make everything an administrative nightmare. He was responsible for rolling out the yearly stock option plan and crunching the numbers for the option grants. Oakes would make his recommendations on numbers of options for his cronies and Cox would play around with the rest left-over. And play around. And play around. The numbers were a constant moving target right up until the moment the numbers were given to the board to approve. The total options they issued could never change because of the 10% limit, but the individual’s numbers were fair game. I think his formula for coming up with numbers was based on where the planets were in the sky on a certain day. Very scientific.
When Richard Cox joined the company as a full-time employee I had breathed a sigh of relief. I remember thinking that we were finally getting someone ‘normal’ at the helm. Cox was originally a member of the board of directors, appointed by the bank consortium. He had been a wizard at a Bay Street investment bank and actually brought some sanity to the place. The board woke up one day and appointed him the chief operating officer. The position was vacant because they had just fired the current chief operating officer. Actually, press reports said the guy resigned to pursue other business interests. Right. Cox was on-deck and the logical choice as replacement. Chris Oakes put up a fight but soon realized he was in a losing battle. A few months later, when the board gave Cox the additional responsibilities of chief financial officer because the incumbent retired, the battle lines were drawn. Oakes and Rick Cox had been openly feuding now for two years.
I wasn’t the only one who was glad Cox joined the company. The company was re-organized, excuse me, re-engineered, and many people who had reported directly to Oakes ended-up reporting directly to Cox. But Cox’s true stripes started to show after about three months of having the dual role of COO and CFO. What a let-down. The guy turned out to be indecisive, misdirected, unfocused and on a good day, a three-headed monster.
The rivalry between Oakes and Cox appeared to be heating up over the last month or two and I expected a show-down soon.
My phone rang and I tore my pantyhose on the corner of the drawer when I tried to get my feet back on the floor and swing my chair around. Kathleen, you are so graceful.
“Kathleen Monahan.”
“Yes?” the voice on the other end demanded.
“Who’s speaking please?” I knew it was Didrickson, and in fact his extension number lit up on the digit display on the telephone console, but I hate arrogant bastards who don’t identify themselves on the phone.
“It’s Harold. You left me a note to call you. I’m back.”
“I’ll be right in.” I picked up the two sheets of paper with the stock option lists on them and headed for his office.
I handed him the list with his initials on the bottom and said, “I got this list out of the last board meeting file.” Then I handed him the other one. “Jay printed this from the stock option system just before lunch. The numbers aren’t the same. He’s got to give a report to Rick Cox with the total options outstanding and he noticed the numbers don’t jive.”
He handed both back to me after he quickly glanced at the two. “Then the system is wrong. The one with my initials on it is the one that was approved at the board meeting.”
“Thanks.”
I called Jay when I got back to my office and told him Didrickson said the one with his initials was the final list. He said he would come down and pick up the lists.
My phone rang again. The digit display indicated it was Didrickson calling. “Yes,” I answered. I thought I’d try his style.
“What exactly were the differences on those two lists?”
“There were four different entries. Rick Cox, Mary Dawson, Jay Harmon and Bill Heatherington.
When Richard Cox joined the company as a full-time employee I had breathed a sigh of relief. I remember thinking that we were finally getting someone ‘normal’ at the helm. Cox was originally a member of the board of directors, appointed by the bank consortium. He had been a wizard at a Bay Street investment bank and actually brought some sanity to the place. The board woke up one day and appointed him the chief operating officer. The position was vacant because they had just fired the current chief operating officer. Actually, press reports said the guy resigned to pursue other business interests. Right. Cox was on-deck and the logical choice as replacement. Chris Oakes put up a fight but soon realized he was in a losing battle. A few months later, when the board gave Cox the additional responsibilities of chief financial officer because the incumbent retired, the battle lines were drawn. Oakes and Rick Cox had been openly feuding now for two years.
I wasn’t the only one who was glad Cox joined the company. The company was re-organized, excuse me, re-engineered, and many people who had reported directly to Oakes ended-up reporting directly to Cox. But Cox’s true stripes started to show after about three months of having the dual role of COO and CFO. What a let-down. The guy turned out to be indecisive, misdirected, unfocused and on a good day, a three-headed monster.
The rivalry between Oakes and Cox appeared to be heating up over the last month or two and I expected a show-down soon.
My phone rang and I tore my pantyhose on the corner of the drawer when I tried to get my feet back on the floor and swing my chair around. Kathleen, you are so graceful.
“Kathleen Monahan.”
“Yes?” the voice on the other end demanded.
“Who’s speaking please?” I knew it was Didrickson, and in fact his extension number lit up on the digit display on the telephone console, but I hate arrogant bastards who don’t identify themselves on the phone.
“It’s Harold. You left me a note to call you. I’m back.”
“I’ll be right in.” I picked up the two sheets of paper with the stock option lists on them and headed for his office.
I handed him the list with his initials on the bottom and said, “I got this list out of the last board meeting file.” Then I handed him the other one. “Jay printed this from the stock option system just before lunch. The numbers aren’t the same. He’s got to give a report to Rick Cox with the total options outstanding and he noticed the numbers don’t jive.”
He handed both back to me after he quickly glanced at the two. “Then the system is wrong. The one with my initials on it is the one that was approved at the board meeting.”
“Thanks.”
I called Jay when I got back to my office and told him Didrickson said the one with his initials was the final list. He said he would come down and pick up the lists.
My phone rang again. The digit display indicated it was Didrickson calling. “Yes,” I answered. I thought I’d try his style.
“What exactly were the differences on those two lists?”
“There were four different entries. Rick Cox, Mary Dawson, Jay Harmon and Bill Heatherington.
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