Nancy Regina Heinen of Portola Valley, California, is an American corporate lawyer, business executive, and philanthropist. Heinen is known for being the General Counsel, Senior Vice President, and Secretary for Apple Computer, Inc. (now Apple Inc.) between September 1997 and May 2006. Heinen is currently a member of the board of VERB and the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund. She also serves on the board of directors and advisory boards for several other companies and philanthropic organizations.

Nancy R. Heinen
Born
Nancy Regina Heinen
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (PhD), (JD), 1982
Occupation(s)Corporate lawyer, corporate executive
Board member of
SpouseDennis DeBroeck

Early life and education

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Heinen received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and English from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Juris Doctor from University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1982.

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Early life and career

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Heinen began her career as an associate in several San Francisco Bay Area law firms. She then worked in the legal department of Tandem Computers and was later hired by Steve Jobs as the general counsel at NeXT.[1] From 1988 to 1993, Heinen was the Secretary of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. While at NeXT, Heinen helped to prepare the company for its initial public offering, and its eventual acquisition by Apple Computer Inc.[2]

Apple Computer Inc (1997 - 2006)

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After NeXT was purchased by Apple in March 1996, Heinen stayed with the company as General Counsel and secretary. Heinen later became Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Legal Secretary of Apple Computer Inc.[3] She was also on the board of BSA Software Alliance from 1996 to 2005.

Heinen was one of several Apple executives credited with helping to revive Apple after it experienced a financial decline in the 1990s, along with Fred D. Anderson, Mitch Mandich, Jon Rubinstein, and Avie Tevanian.[4] During this time, Apple began pre-emptively applying for patents to prevent them from being obtained by the company's competition, a tactic Heinen described as "a defensive tool".[5] Heinen left Apple on May 1, 2006, after nine years with the company. Neither Heinen nor Apple commented on her departure other than to confirm it.[6] Shortly after she left, she retained two criminal defense lawyers, and Apple admitted to irregularities in its handling of executive stock option dating.[7]

SEC allegations

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On April 24, 2007, the SEC filed a claim against Heinen alleging that she caused Apple to backdate large option grants and altered corporate records to hide the actions.[8] 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 which were dated October 19, 2001 but allegedly granted in December 2001, and also option grants awarded to top company executives, including Heinen which were dated January 17, 2001 but allegedly granted in February 2001.[8]

Heinen settled with the SEC on August 14, 2008, agreeing to pay a total of $2.2 million to resolve all of the SEC charges against her, but without either admitting or denying any wrongdoing.[9] Heinen was to return $1.575 million from the stock options that she received, plus interest, and pay a $200,000 penalty.[10] Apple's former CFO Fred D. Anderson had already reached a $3.5 million settlement with the SEC in 2007, without admitting or denying its allegations regarding the stock-option backdating at the technology company.[11] The SEC settlement also barred Heinen from serving as a public company officer or director for five years and barred her from practicing before the SEC for three years.[12] Heinen's settlement ended the civil suit filed in California federal court by the SEC in April 2007 that would otherwise have gone to trial in 2009. A two-year criminal investigation into the matter by the U.S. Justice Department was closed without criminal charges being filed.

Philanthropy and non-profit work: 2006 - present

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After leaving Apple, Heinen became involved in various philanthropic and non-profit organizations, particularly those related to social justice, and economic and educational outreach.[13][14] In 2009, Heinen joined the board of directors of Silicon Valley Social Ventures. a non-profit founded by Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen.[15] Heinen became vice chair in 2011, and chairman in 2012. She participated in the education grant round and partner advisory board, and served as a co-leader of FY16-17's international grant round.[16]

Heinen is Chair of the Board of Directors for First Place For Youth, a non-profit organization which helps foster youths,[17] and of Teen Success Inc.[18] Heinen has served as a member of the board of several other organizations such as Embrace, the UC Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy, Northern California Innocence Project, Illuminate Ventures, Duarte, and Vitamix.[19] Heinen is also a sponsor of People Acting in Community Together (P.A.C.T).[20]

On December 20, 2019, it was announced that Heinen had joined the board of directors of VERB Technology Company, Inc., a Newport Beach, California based software company.[21]

Personal life

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Heinen is married to attorney Dennis DeBroeck, a partner in the corporate group at Fenwick & West law firm, which is counsel to Apple Inc.[22]

References

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  1. ^ "The trouble with Steve Jobs". Fortune. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  2. ^ "Nancy Heinen". Minority Corporate Counsel Association. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  3. ^ Nancy R. Heinen and Fred D. Anderson: Securities and Exchange Commission Litigation Complaint. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4578-0434-2.
  4. ^ Rubinstein, Ruth (2018-05-04). Dress Codes: Meanings And Messages In American Culture. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-97491-5.
  5. ^ "Friendly Reminder: Apple Patents Do Not Indicate Future Products". Time. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  6. ^ Pasternak, Petra (May 11, 2006). "Exit of Apple GC Cloaked in Mystery". The Recorder. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  7. ^ Chmielewski, Dawn C.; Gaither, Chris (5 October 2006). "Apple CEO Knew of Backdating: Steve Jobs apologizes for the company's option practices. A former CFO resigns from the board". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  8. ^ a b Fagel, Marc J.; Dicke, Michael S. (24 April 2007). "SEC Charges Former Apple General Counsel for Illegal Stock Option Backdating" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: SEC. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  9. ^ "Ex-Apple General Councel Nancy Heinen Settles Backdating Charge; $2.2 Million Fine". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  10. ^ "Nancy R. Heinen: Lit. Rel. No. 20683 / August 14, 2008". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  11. ^ Nocera, Joe (2008-05-29). Good Guys and Bad Guys: Behind the Scenes with the Saints and Scoundrels of American Business (and Every thing in Between). Penguin. ISBN 978-1-4406-3203-7.
  12. ^ "SEC Settles Options Backdating Charges With Former Apple General Counsel For $2.2 Million". SEC. 14 August 2008.
  13. ^ "Bay Area entrepreneurs update philanthropy". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  14. ^ "Nancy Heinen Board Chair". Empowering teen mothers, transforming lives. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  15. ^ "Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Wants to Teach You How to Give". The Chronicle of Philanthropy. 2014-09-29. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  16. ^ "Nancy Heinen – Lead Partner to Village Enterprise". Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  17. ^ Miller, Claudia. "Our Board". First Place For Youth. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  18. ^ "Leadership Luncheon 2018". PACT- People Acting in Community Together. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  19. ^ "Business Hall of Fame 2017: Jodi Berg". clevelandmagazine.com. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  20. ^ "Four Steps to Lead the Change to Innovate for Good". Airfoil Group. 2015-06-12. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  21. ^ "VERB To Appoint Former APPLE Executive Nancy Heinen". SalesTechStar. 2019-12-26. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  22. ^ "Apple chief executive questioned by U.S. authorities". AppleInsider. January 23, 2007. Retrieved 2020-01-10.