Professor Erik Lie is Department Chair, Amelia Tippie Chair in Finance, and Professor at the University of Iowa.
His papers led to scrutiny and law enforcement related to how executives, boards, and gatekeepers such as attorneys and auditors supported cheating on stock option grants to enrich executives.
Erik Lie, (2005) On the Timing of CEO Stock Option Awards. Management Science 51(5):802-812.
Heron, Randall A. and Lie, Erik, Does Backdating Explain the Stock Price Pattern Around Executive Stock Option Grants?. Journal of Financial Economics, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=877889
Carow, Kenneth A. and Heron, Randall A. and Lie, Erik and Neal, Robert, Option Grant Backdating Investigations and Capital Market Discipline. Journal of Corporate Finance, August 12, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1108192
Randall A. Heron, Erik Lie, (2009) What Fraction of Stock Option Grants to Top Executives Have Been Backdated or Manipulated?. Management Science 55(4):513-525. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1080.0958
They also led to a Pulitzer Prize winning story at The Wall Street Journal.
Some CEOs reap millions by landing stock options when they are most valuable. Luck -- or something else? By Charles Forelle and James Bandler March 18, 2006 11:59 pm ET
Earlier this week I linked to my extensive writing on the subject and to a recent paper that specifically looks at the auditors role in the scandal.
Professor Lie has written a new book, Catching Cheats, that is the perfect size to assign to students and for you to read on a weekend. I highly recommend it.
A renowned researcher takes readers inside the hunt for Wall Street’s biggest frauds, revealing the forensic techniques that catch corporate criminals in the act.
The world of business runs on trust, but that trust is routinely broken. From stock market manipulation to accounting fraud, corporate executives and Wall Street insiders find endless, creative ways to cheat the system. With engaging stories and compelling data analysis, Erik Lie reveals how these schemes work and how to catch them.
Through real cases such as Martha Stewart’s insider trading, Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, and the LIBOR rate-fixing scandal, readers will learn the following:Two powerful methods for detecting systematic fraud using data
How cheaters leave behind telltale statistical patterns
Why some of Wall Street’s biggest frauds persisted for years despite red flags
The role of whistleblowers, journalists, and researchers in exposing deception
Packed with intriguing examples and whimsical illustrations, this eye-opening guide shows how anyone can help expose corporate misconduct hiding in plain sight.
Listen to our conversation about our common backgrounds, his Norwegian heritage, and what he’s interested in and worried about now. Stay to the end and Prof. Lie has some tips for journalists on things to look at!
© Francine McKenna, The Digging Company LLC, 2025
