Selling at a loss

If someone gave me an old piano and it did not work and I had to hire someone to haul it off, I would call that paying someone to haul something off, not selling a piano at a loss. But nobody ever gave me stock options. How much would you expect to pay someone to haul off some old stock options that somebody gave you? Reported on Yahoo news, AP: Allen didn’t disclose stock options by Sharon Theimer and Bob Lewis, AP writers:

Allen’s office said he sold his Xybernaut stock at a loss and has not cashed in his Commonwealth options because they cost more than the stock is now worth. The senator also said he saw no conflict going to work for companies shortly after assisting them as governor.

Then there is the one that did work:

In interviews, Allen and his staff sought to play down his corporate dealings, saying they were a good learning experience but did not lead to extraordinary riches — except for a quarter-million-dollar windfall from Com-Net Ericsson stock.

I hear that Allen said this was really not a lot of money, but I would like to point out that it is just over 23 times the annual income of a person working at minimum wage and about 14 times the annual income for a family of 4 living close to the top edge of the poverty level in Virginia. Lets see, that is 56 people for a year– housing, food, clothing, transportation, school supplies, health insurance, medical care, Christmas presents…
I guess the perspective changes depending upon where you are on the L Curve.