Kodak Surges After Review Finds CEO Options Weren’t Illegal
- Legal report suggests changes to board and stock grants
- Kodak agrees to proposals, including option grant amendments
Shares of Eastman Kodak Co. were up about 60% shortly after the start of trading in New York, following a legal review of how it award stock option grants to its chief executive officer before announcing a federal loan. The review determined the company had mishandled the process, but also that stock transactions by its chief executive officer and a board member didn’t constitute insider trading.
The review, commissioned by Kodak, found that the company’s general counsel didn’t properly brief the board on legal risks of providing the grants to Jim Continenza, the CEO and executive chairman, ahead of positive corporate news. He received the grants the day before the Rochester, New York-based company disclosed that it had been awarded $765 million to manufacture pharmaceutical materials as part of a Covid-19 government loan program.