[link|http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4696887.htm|column]

Excerpts:

Running companies that became almost worthless didn't stop dozens of Silicon Valley insiders from pocketing billions of dollars by selling their stock during the tech boom and bust.

The Mercury News examined the stock sales record of insiders at 40 companies in Silicon Valley that have lost virtually all their value since the stock market peaked in March 2000. The executives, board members and venture capitalists at these companies walked off with $3.41 billion, while their companies' total market value plunged 99.8 percent to a mere $229.5 million at the end of September.

``The people who bought the stock they sold are the victims here,'' said Charles Elson, director of the Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. ``This money was taken from investors who didn't have the same information as these insiders and lost their money.''