Nancy R. Heinen

Who is Nancy R. Heinen?

Nancy Regina Heinen of Portola Valley, California, was the General Counsel and Secretary for Apple Computer, Inc. between September 1997 and May 2006. Before Apple, she was the General Counsel at NeXT. Prior to NeXT she worked in the legal department of Tandem Computers and as an associate in several San Francisco Bay Area law firms. Heinen left Apple shortly before the company admitted to irregularities in its handling of executive stock option dating, and retained two criminal lawyers. Neither Heinen nor Apple commented on her departure other than to confirm it.

On April 24, 2007, the SEC filed charges alleging that she caused Apple to backdate large option grants and altered corporate records to hide the actions. According to the SEC press release, "Heinen is charged with, among other things, violating the antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, lying to Apple's auditors, and violating prohibitions on circumventing internal controls" based on options awarded to Steve Jobs and also option grants awarded to top company executives, including Heinen. The SEC is seeking injunctive relief, disgorgement, and money penalties against Heinen, in addition to an order barring her from serving as an officer or director of a public company.