Clifford…Suresh is not in this for a legacy in the lab. He is in it to commercialize the POET Optical Interposer and reap the rewards. It is not that he does not care about POET shareholders, it is that he does not understand them. From management's point of view they see what they have accomplished as a huge step forward in Optical Integration. Suresh absolutely considers this as a major achievement and an industry first. As such he believes they should be rewarded. He is not used to working for such a small company.

Here is a quote for you when I was trying to understand the option repricing. Which is a big part of why Jamie feels they are preparing to sell the company. I also believe it will happen eventually. 

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No one is questioning your sincerity.  This is a touchy topic for all of us in this company and particularly for Tom and me.  So, if our responses don't sit well with you, I apologize for that.  

The conditioning over years that I have been at POET is - "thou shalt not exercise your options" - for fear of any negative connotations or repercussions that may have.  We were all but publicly lynched for exercising ONCE in my tenure at POET and a measly 125K options at that.  This is not the norm and I have been at companies where there is a constant and routine exercising of options by executive team management on a consistent basis.  

The options are provided with the FOREMOST intent of recruiting and keeping talent.  That's it.  It is not so I can get rich quick or that anyone on the executive management team can get rich quick.  It is part of our compensation since we do not pay CASH bonuses in the company and have not for years.  Currently the unsaid rule of not exercising options at POET means that the stock options are an incentive to LEAVE the company and not stick with it.   People who have left the company, people that have been let go, people that have been divested – have made more money on all our backs than the people that have stuck with the company and trying in earnest to transform it.  Let that sink in for a moment.  

There is no motive here other than being able to retain and recruit talent.  Through the most difficult times in the company's past, Tom and I have held the leadership team together.  Through pay cuts, deferred salaries, no bonuses (all not the norm in the industry), we have maintained our workforce - without a single loss.  

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My comment: They are preparing this company for market penetration with a level of achievement that major companies spend 100X what POET has spent…and they still fall short of what POET has achieved.  

This company has a market cap of $206 million USD…Obviously there is a credibility problem which I believe is firmly rooted in a failure to understand their shareholders. And that credability problem was exacerbated by the repricing of their options in the eyes of many of their shareholders.