He was given a stock option grant of 3.5 million shares.

On average, the value of option grants fell 7 percent, to $6.02 million.

None of these figures include option grants made this year, which are almost certainly under water.

The traditional answer from academia was that big options grants were good.

On the other hand, he noted, the options grants given to these executives tend to be very large.

Because option grants have become so huge in recent years, changing the way companies account for them could put big pressure on earnings.

Then, he says, a panel of outside directors should decide on option grants.

In return for this higher risk, though, executives typically get larger stock option grants.

Even now, some companies' option grants are at odds with shareholder interests.

And in the following year, Whitacre got what was then his biggest option grant ever, 345,000 shares.