SiliconBeat

Feel the need to “Talk to Chuck” about his recent selling of more than $70 million in company stock?

The Charles Schwab Corporation thought you might, which could explain why it put out a press release Friday afternoon detailing why its big guy, Chuck, sold shares of company stock earlier that day. It seems the shares were acquired through the exercise of an option that was set to expire next month.

“Unexercised options are canceled upon expiration and therefore lose all value,” the release patiently explained to the great unwashed among us.

The option, granted in May 1998, was originally good for 700,000 shares priced at $34.69, and were part of “Mr. Schwab’s” (guess he’s not on a first nickname basis with the folks in PR) “long-term incentive compensation.” Three stock splits later the grant grew to 3.3 million shares priced at $7.35 per share.

Being forced to exercise them is one thing, but we’re assuming no one held a gun to his head to sell them all. The press release explains that “the exercised options were
immediately sold as part of Mr. Schwab’s long-standing practice of periodically selling shares for personal financial management purposes.” Were they sold through a Schwab broker, we wonder? The press release doesn’t say.

Just in case you’re feeling, well, envious the press release also explained that Chuck — we commoners are encouraged to call him Chuck — paid some $22 million of the $48 million profit he made to the tax man.

Finally, don’t be thinking this is a signal of any bearishness on Chuck’s part about his company’s stock: they shares sold were “less than 1.6 percent” of his holdings in the company. He still controls about 208 million more.