When options deliver too much.

• Position: Business Briefs - Brief Article

Microsoft Corp. has a problem with stock options--actually, a couple of problems--CFO John Connors observed in a speech to FEI's Forum on Finance and Technology in Las Vegas in September. But these problems have nothing to do with expensing or accounting.

First, he said, the abundance of options showered on employees who joined in the 1980s and early '90s created a flood of wealth by the mid- to late 1990s. Many long-time employees became multi-millionaires when the stock kept rising and split multiple times; as a result, hundreds left the company to pursue hobbies or other interests.

Those who joined the company a decade or more ago "found financial success way beyond what they dreamed, and probably more than what they deserved," Connors said. "The potential was not just sending your child through college, but...