Replies to post #100476 on InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[ellismd]

I hope what you now interpret to be fairly accurate calculations is not close to what will be. The shorts will take hold of that figure and run with it for days. The increase would be suicide for the BOD.

[Corp_Buyer]

LTI Bonus Grant Value

Ronnie, do your calculations reflect that the total NEW LTI BONUS VALUE GRANTED per year (not the amount actually expensed each year) were about:

* Bonus Granted in 2004 (for 2003 performance) = $9M ?
* Bonus Granted in 2005 (for 2004 performance) = $16M ?

i.e. PRIOR 2 YEAR NEW LTI BONUS PLAN GRANTS = ~$25M total ??

Did the BoD actually grant ~$25M just for new BONUSES to about 100 folks, not including their "regular" bonuses from the prior plan that is still in effect, and also not including any stock options which may also have been granted?

Can anyone PLEASE explain what extraordinary accomplishments management has actually achieved in 2003 and 2004 to possibly justify ~$25M in NEW LTI BONUS GRANTS?

Does it seem that the new LTI bonuses have become expected compensation for lackluster, business as usual, performance?

IMO, grants of $25M to our management team for the past 2 years is excessive and needless.

Where is the shareholder alignment?

TIA,
Corp_Buyer

[Learning2vest]

Some questions came to mind while reading the following excerpt from IDCC's latest 10K and then the comments about it in your ref post;

…”We expect that the expenses associated with the performance-based cash incentive and RSUs will each increase between $4m to $5m in 2005 as we accrue expenses for both the final year of the initial measurement period and begin the first year of the first three year measurement period under our long term compensation programs”.

1) How can seeing management disclose expectations of significantly higher expenses for "performance based" cash incentives NOT BE A GOOD THING for shareholders?(Seems like the only way to see management expectations of higher performance as a "bad thing" would be to view it from a perspective of total distrust in that management.)

2) What is the proper accounting procedure to be used in determining the "cost basis" of each RSU grant? (If the answer is "market value on date of grant"(?), seems like we need to know WHEN each RSU grant will actually take place before estimating the "market value"/"cost basis" on those dates.)

3) What is your best estimate of the "market value" expected on IDCC shares scheduled to be granted as RSUs in the later stages of the 2005 incentive plans(i.e., will the market value of IDCC shares be higher or lower in the third and fourth quarters of 2005)?

MY thought on the expected "cost" of RSU grants goes like this - maybe its not the numbers of RSU shares to be granted under IDCC's 2005 incentive plans that are going up so much as it is management's expectations regarding the value basis on those RSU grants when they are made later this year.)

Maybe I'm reading that 10K excerpt through rose tinted glasses(?). What I'm seeing is management that I trust(would be sold and gone otherwise), sharing their expectations of higher performance achievements by IDCC employees AND higher market valuations of IDCC shares in the coming months. I'm thinking "Yee Haw!" and "Giddy up big horse!" after reading the same stuff that appears to be putting others into a funk. Go figure????