Apple probe finds stock option grant irregularities

One of the grants in question was to chief executive Steve Jobs, but it was subsequently cancelled and resulted in no financial gain to the CEO, the company said.

A special committee of Apple's outside directors has hired independent counsel to perform an investigation and the company has informed the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"Apple is a quality company, and we are proactively and transparently disclosing what we have discovered to the SEC," said Jobs. "We are focused on resolving these issues as quickly as possible."

Apple executives have been instructed to offer no further comments on the matter until the independent investigation is concluded.