Roger Donway

Rich-hunt: the Backdated Options Frenzy and the Ordeal of Greg Reyes Roger Donway

Rich-Hunt is the most comprehensive study to date of the interaction of business, law, and journalism in the backdated options episode. It is a case study of prosecutorial misconduct and the tendency of the media to be an echo chamber for accusations against businesses. But it is first and foremost the story of a man who excelled in business achievement. Greg Reyes rose rapidly in the world of high tech to become CEO of Brocade at 36 and increased its revenues twenty-fold within three years-only to be felled by a miscarriage of justice. In this deeply researched work, Donway shows how Reyes became the victim first of a board made fearful by the power of regulators; then of a frenzied media attack on backdated options; and, finally, of prosecutors who charged him with fraud. Despite the prosecutors' failure to establish that someone was misled, the central point required for a charge of fraud, Reyes was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison and a $15 million fine.