Guess It Does Look Kinda Bad

AP (02.26.05):

ChoicePoint Inc.'s top two executives made a combined $16.6 million in profit from selling company shares in the months after the data warehouser learned that people's personal information may have been compromised and before the breach was made public, regulatory filings show The Alpharetta, Ga.-based company says the stock trading was prearranged under a plan approved by the company's board. Corporate governance experts say the pattern and timing of the trading by Chief Executive Officer Derek Smith and President Douglas Curling raise questions." Timing of stock sales questioned

Between the day the company knew of the breach and the day they publicly announced it, the boys bought and sold 458,600 company shares in eight transactions. Before this, their trading was decidedly less frequent. In 2003, each made one stock transaction. In 2002, Mr. Smith made three, while Mr. Curling made one How profitable was this? Turns out they had a bunch of options, some for as low as $3.62. The best sale price they got was $46.82. Now they didn't acquire every share that low, nor sell every share that high, but hey, sounds like they did OK. It's all right here. QOTD: "For almost a century ChoicePoint has been a trusted source and leading provider of decision-making information that helps reduce fraud and mitigate risk." Understatement of the week: "'It might have been more prudent to trade after the information had surfaced in the public domain,'" said Charles Elson, a corporate governance expert at the University of Delaware.