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Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs was questioned by U.S. investigators last week about stock options backdating at the company, a person close to the situation told CNBC's Mary Thompson.
The company behind the popular iPod digital media player has said it was under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission for its past
option-grant practices.
Apple [AAPL
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] declined comment. The U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco also was not immediately available.
An SEC spokesman declined to comment.
Apple said in December it would take an $84 million charge for misdating more than 6,400 options. It said an internal review found two questionable options awarded to Jobs, but found no wrongdoing by current management, including the CEO.
CNBC's Jim Goldman said that people he talked to don't expect anything to come from Jobs meeting with investigators. In fact, it seems even the probe by government officials may just end up "going away," he added.
The meeting with authorities was first reported on Jan. 19 by The Recorder, a legal newspaper in San Francisco.
Chris Steskal, the lead attorney in the Justice Department's investigation, left in January to join law firm Fenwick & West LLP as a partner, according to the firm's Web site.
Apple is among the more than 160 companies that are under government investigation or conducting internal probes into past stock options award practices.
Stock options represent the right to buy company shares at a set price. Some companies are accused of backdating grant dates to days when the share price was lower, giving the recipient the opportunity to collect extra profit. Backdating is not in itself illegal, but needs to be properly accounted for and disclosed.
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