Zoe Lofgren: “the illusion that stock options only benefit fat-cat corporate executives is just that, an illusion. Fifty-three percent…”

“the illusion that stock options only benefit fat-cat corporate executives is just that, an illusion. Fifty-three percent of companies that offer stock option plans offer them to all employees. Within the tech sector, 88 percent offer them to all employees. With start-ups it is even more important. According to the National Venture Capital Association, more than 70 percent of venture-backed companies award stock options to all employees. As my colleague, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Eshoo), has noted, this is an essential component to the innovation economy that really is pulling the entire American economy forward, but that does not seem to matter to FASB. When stock options that have a strike price of $40 are being traded at $18 and the FASB accounting system accounts for that as a valuable option, there is something wrong with the standards that they are using. We need to study this matter and to make sure that in our efforts to be clear, we do not destroy the tech economy.”