With Apple being the latest to admit there have been what it's called "irregularities'' with stock options, the fallout from the scandals is expected to send tremors through Silicon Valley.

Stock option chicanery has been disclosed by at least 57 companies, including 25 based in Silicon Valley or other parts of the San Francisco Bay area.

Silicon Valley and stock options go together. It's the dark side of an entrepreneurial culture that used the rewards as a way that would allow a large number of employees to make millions if they were willing to accept slightly smaller paychecks for a few years.

Randall Heron, an indiana University associate professor of finance says that the intense competition for talent also contributed to it and he has predicted that the investigations will investigations "dig up other skeletons in the accounting closet", according to this report.

Maybe it's not always a matter of financial fraud but the cases might have enormous governance implications, reports Red Herring.