Yes, while I agree Skilling is a crook, even a crook speaks shreds of truth now and again. There msut be more derivatives problems afoot(maybe some of them gold or silver) about which near no investors are informed. Something within risk management has run amuck
Post (Feb 26, 2002)
· Skilling Disputes Testimony on Reasons for Enron's Demise - NY Times (registration req'd) (Feb 26, 2002)
· 'Run on the bank' brought down Enron - BBC (Feb 26, 2002)
· New Enron chief faces tough audience - Dallas Morning News (Feb 26, 2002)
More...
Opinion & Editorials
· Pin the Enron Tail on Clinton`s Donkey - SupplySideInvestor.Com (Feb 26, 2002)
· Nothing but the 401(k) facts for workers - Indianapolis Star (Feb 26, 2002)
· Enron makes amnesia easy - Denver Post (Feb 26, 2002)
· Time to curb excesses of power elite - The Guardian (UK). (Feb 25, 2002)
· Can Tort Litigation Against Enron Work? - FindLaw's Writ (Feb 25, 2002)
More...
Humor
· The Enron Voice Mail System, 2002 - from WitCity
· Enron Scandal - jokes, satire, and cartoons. From About: Political Humor.
· Kenny Boy - Flash-animated editorial cartoon, by Mark Fiore for SF Gate, January 2002.
Related Web Sites
· Enron - company site. Includes a FAQ on the bankruptcy filing, a look at the company's history, and press releases.
· Andersen - the auditor's site has a special section on Enron, which includes a statement on document destruction.
· C-SPAN: Enron Investigation - includes video and transcripts of Congressional hearings, discussion forums, and a glossary of terms used in the Enron probe.
More...
Magazine Articles
· Accountants Stained by Enron - Radio Netherlands (Feb 25, 2002)
· The Tao of Enron: Well, It Sounded Good - NY Times (registration req'd) (Feb 24, 2002)
· Ken Lay's Nest Egg - Mother Jones (Feb 21, 2002)
More...
Audio
· Enron Scandal Prompts New Accounting Rules - NPR (Feb 21, 2002)
· "Mrs Watkins was happy to talk about what was going on at Enron" - BBC (Feb 15, 2002)
More...
Video
· Skilling: Employees who lost everything 'should have diversified' - Yahoo! FinanceVision (Feb 26, 2002)
· Sen. Boxer asks Skilling if he touted Enron stock to employees while selling - Yahoo! FinanceVision (Feb 26, 2002)
· Sen Dorgan quizes Watkins and McMahon on pre-bankruptcy bonuses - Yahoo! FinanceVision (Feb 26, 2002)
Related Full Coverage
· Oil and Gas
· Utility Industry Deregulation
Ex-Enron head Skilling says he never duped former chairman Lay and didn't lie to Congress
Tue Feb 26, 4:19 PM ET
By MARCY GORDON, AP Business Writer
WASHINGTON - Former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling told senators Tuesday "I didn't lie to Congress or anyone else" in denying he was aware of the company's precarious finances or its use of complex partnerships to hide debt.
Slideshows
AP Photo
Enron
Audio/Video
Enron Whistleblower on Ken Lay's Intelligence & Pressure at Enron - (Yahoo! Finance Vision)
Ex-Enron CEO: I Never Duped Lay (AP)
Skilling testified for five hours before the Senate Commerce Committee along with two other Enron executives, whose statements sometimes contradicted his. Afterward, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., whose Commerce subcommittee on consumer affairs is investigating Enron, said, "Mr. Skilling has several stages of denial."
"It's unbelievable to me that the top people in this company didn't know what was happening," said Dorgan. He was referring to Skilling — who abruptly resigned last August — and Jeffrey McMahon, Enron's current president and chief operating officer.
Addressing skeptical lawmakers, Skilling also said, "I never duped Ken Lay," disputing previous statements by Sherron Watkins, a company vice president who said Skilling manipulated Enron's former chairman.
"I heard Ms. Watkins testify as to her opinion," Skilling said. "I have no idea what the basis was for this opinion."
Watkins, who sat at the same witness table with Skilling, separated from him by Skilling's attorney, was more critical of Lay's role than she had been in her Feb. 14 testimony to another congressional panel. She told the Senate committee Tuesday she was "incredibly frustrated" with Lay's inaction after she warned him in August of potentially serious accounting problems involving the partnerships.
"I believe that Enron had a brief window to salvage itself this past fall, and we missed that opportunity because of Mr. Lay's failure to recognize or accept that the company had manipulated its financial statements," Watkins said.
Skilling became more self-assured, almost cocky, as the hearing went on. At one point he wagged a finger at Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and told him to "back up, back up," as the senator read a document. Skilling at times lectured senators about the complex financial instruments called derivatives.
"If I were in charge of the world," he began a sentence recommending to senators what remedies they might consider to prevent another Enron-style catastrophe.
Skilling repeatedly said "I'm not an accountant" when asked about Watkins' warnings to Lay.
Watkins testified she was afraid to take her misgivings to Skilling because he might fire her. She said she finds it "hard to believe that Mr. Skilling was not aware that something was amiss."
McMahon told the senators that Watkins' warnings "were concerning to me and I encouraged her, as others did, to see Mr. Lay about it."
Dorgan told Skilling that some of his statements were "unbelievable."
He asked Skilling about the $66 million in Enron stock he sold between February 1999 and June 2001, contrasting it with the retirement savings of Enron employees that were wiped out as the stock plunged last fall. The employees' and retirees' 401(k) accounts were loaded with Enron stock.
"You still have most of your $66 million; that family's life savings is wiped out," Dorgan told Skilling, referring to a family in North Dakota that told him it lost nearly all its $330,000.
Watkins said she believed that former chief financial officer Andrew Fastow "would not have put his hands in the Enron cookie jar" without Skilling's approval. Fastow personally made more than $30 million from running the partnerships.
Skilling said, "I relied on our accountants," when asked about Watkins' warnings that Enron stock was improperly being used as the foundation of the web of partnerships that eventually brought the company down.
"I have nothing to hide," Skilling said, explaining why he had decided to testify rather than take the Fifth Amendment like "other innocents" called before congressional committees.
At the same time, he cautioned the committee that "the framers of the Bill of Rights are watching."
"The entire management and board of Enron has been labeled everything from hucksters to criminals with a complete disregard for facts and evidence assembled," he said. "These untruths shatter lives and they do nothing to advance the public understanding of what happened at Enron."
Skilling sat without expression, listening attentively, as members of the committee opened the hearing by denouncing Enron's conduct and citing huge losses to public pension funds in their states. At the witness table with their attorneys were Watkins, Skilling and McMahon.
"Mr. Skilling, if you plan to tell this committee that you did not understand Enron's true financial condition, then you will need to explain why, why you failed to understand things that any diligent chief executive officer would have understood," said Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo.
Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Ill., told Skilling there is a chess game going. "Our challenge is to find a way to check every single one of the moves you made on that Enron board," he said.
"I do, however, approach your testimony with some skepticism," Fitzgerald said.
Skilling, Watkins and McMahon testified, separately and under oath, this month before a House investigative panel. Other top Enron executives, including Lay, have invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and refused to testify.
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