InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[blueskywaves]

See what I mean about a lack of proportion?

$1.4B may be a nuisance settlement to you but the significance to Wall Street is that the larger the settlement with the regulators, the larger the settlement with the plaintiff bar. As it stands now, Wall Street would be extremely lucky to keep its private lawsuit settlements down to 3x the regulatory settlement or a global settlement of around $4.5B. One lawyer said the global settlements could go up as high as 10x the regulatory settlement or around $14B. The legal profession only grossed something like $37B last year.

Secondly, Jack Grubman was considered the standard for analyst compensation during the last bull market. At his peak, Grubman was making $20M-$25M a year, certainly not the billions you cite.

Lastly, you digressed from the original point that the option accounting controversy and the sell-side research controvery are NOT comparable because the latter involves different types of FRAUD while the former involves a social policy that has outlived its usefullness.