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Comment by dna_polymerase | Hacker News Reader

It doesn't matter if other architectures are vulnearble as well. It looks like that the Intel CEO acted (sold stock) upon information which by its nature should have been made available to all stockholders prior to this. The whole matter is reported here [0]. It really looks shady from the outside.

[0]: http://www.businessinsider.de/intel-ceo-krzanich-sold-shares...

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It is fairly normal to sell a portion or all of shares received from excercising stock options to cover tax liabilities. I don’t think it’s clear that knowledge of the exploit changed his behavior. Furthermore the stock has not taken a major hit on the news. It is still up compared to a month ago, 3 months ago etc. it is down a little over the last week. The idea that he sold to avoid a stock crash doesn’t really hold if the stock didn’t crash, right?

He sold all but the bare minimum he is required to hold as CEO.

Whatever else, the optics are terrible. But he must have known they would be, so it's a little hard to see what his thinking was here.

And it's early days on the stock price - let's see where it is in 3-6 months.

Though it is true that Krzanich has consistently sold stock every 4th quarter, for this recent transaction, he massively increased the amount he sold. Krzanich sold so much in fact that if he had sold any more stock, he according to Intel corporate mandate bylaws would no longer be allowed to continue as CEO.

If you don't believe me, look for yourself:

https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/12/19/intels-ceo-just-so...

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/50863/00011276021703...

And 'coincidentally', this massive increase in selling just seemed to somehow perfectly fit right in the middle of Intel being privately informed of Meltdown in June but before any public disclosure kept locked away all the way until now in January.

This is blatantly illegal insider trading. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

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