Take-Two: Now Under SEC Investigation (again)
Here's an excerpt from Take-Two's statement released today:New York, NY - July 10, 2006 - Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) today announced that the Company has received notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission that it is conducting an informal non-public investigation into certain stock option grants made by the Company from January 1997 to the present. Prior to receiving the notice, the Company had initiated an internal review of the Company's option grants, led by a committee consisting of independent board members who have retained independent legal counsel and accountants to assist in the review.
This could well be another case of a company allegedly back-dating option grants (which is illegal and apparently quite popular) or it could be part of something unique to Take-Two. Regardless, when there are already criminal investigations underway, then the SEC gets on your ass, it's a disaster.
Many of you sent me a link to this article from Game Daily about an "employee exodus" at Rockstar. The article lists a number of managers/directors who have left the company in the last 6-12 months. It's interesting, but it's missing two pieces of context: one, we're given no idea how many total employees work in management at Rockstar, and two, we have no idea how many employees at that level left in the preceding twelve months.
I do believe that people are leaving Rockstar at an accelerated pace, but that's more a feeling than a fact, and this article, while provocative, lacks the context needed to make it truly helpful in establishing what's really going on.
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