If these "rumors" are true…Well.. I doubt that would be an issue.
When, qualcomm sold the infrastructure to Ericcson, people got screwed. Some people sued, and QCom settled out of court. I think they didn't really know what to do back then.
When qualcomm sold the handset division to Kyocera, people went to kyocera stayed qualcomm employees(loaned to kyocera). They vested, and at the end of the vesting, they had the option of staying at kyocera or reapplying at qualcomm.
If indeed a spinoff was announced, I doubt they would screw the employees again. Spinoff usually means accelerated vesting and/or converstion from stock options to new spinned company.
However, didn't Qualcomm can spinning off QCT (aka it was called spinco?)
Anyway, your friends husband have a much better chance of losing their options from
1)Having a worthless options as a result of the BRCM/NOK/QCOM lawsuits if the stock tanks before vesting.
2) Being fired to have told company sensitive information to a spouse who subsequently gossiped to a friend who subsequently told a spouse who subsequently posted to a board
Anyway, still trying to figure out how that real "worth" of those options would total around 5 million, if they're not vested yet. 4 years is their vesting schedule, and back in 2003, the stock was not that much less than it is now. And I know how much directors get.
