PricewaterhouseCoopers has agreed to pay $51 million plus interest
to settle a class action lawsuit brought by investors in business
software company MicroStrategy who alleged auditing irregularities
by the accountants, according to a report by the Washington Post.
The shareholders sued because they said PwC defrauded them when
the firm approved an audit of MicroStrategy’s 1999 profit figures.
In March 2000, MicroStrategy revised its 1998 and 1999 results,
thereby revealing that the company was making a loss, not a profit
as the reults previously stated. The following month, the company
said the US Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating
how it records revenues.
PwC continues to deny any wrongdoing, describing its settlement
as “a business decision to settle this case to avoid further costs
and the uncertainties of protracted litigation.”
MicroStrategy floated in 1998 with an offer price of $6 per
share. Its share price rocketed to $333 in March 2000, but now
trades below $5.
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