This seems like some serious shennanigans to me, but maybe those of you who know better could fill me in. Also, here's the 10-Q.

SUNNYVALE, Calif., January 15, 2003 - Ariba, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARBA) announced today that it will restate its financial statements for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2001 and 2000 and for the quarters ended March 31, 2000 through June 30, 2002 as a result of an ongoing review of accounting matters. The company also announced that because this review is not yet completed, it has not yet filed its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2002 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

As previously disclosed, Ariba has determined that, for accounting purposes, it should treat a $10.0 million payment provided personally by Keith Krach, Ariba’s chairman and co-founder, in March 2001 to Larry Mueller, its president and chief operating officer at the time, as a $10.0 million capital contribution from Mr. Krach to Ariba and the payment of compensation from Ariba to Mr. Mueller. Because no company funds were used and there was no commitment to or from Ariba, the company originally viewed the payment as a personal transaction.

The company has further determined that chartered air services, provided personally by Mr. Krach to Mr. Mueller, should be treated similarly as a capital contribution from Mr. Krach to Ariba and a payment of compensation from the company to Mr. Mueller. These services were provided over the period from September 2000 through July 2001 at a total cost of $1.2 million.