Former Enron CEO, Jeffrey Skilling, Released From Prison After 12 Years

The bankruptcy of Enron (2001) was nearly two decades ago. Jeffrey Skilling, the McKinsey-alum-Harvard-MBA- former CFO, was released from prison after 12 long years. He was convicted of fraud, conspiracy, and insider trading. The last one means that he was selling off his stock even as he knew of the company’s imminent collapse.

One of the ironies of it all, as reported in today’s Wall Street Journal, is that many of the hard assets of Enron that were sold off as part of its liquidation have really produced, literally and figuratively. Enron’s drilling and exploration company was a pioneer in the technology for fracking — the use of those assets spawned EOG Resources. One of the officers who wisely got out of Enron before the fraud started, Richard Kinder, founded Kinder Morgan,now a company with a network of pipelines across most of the West. GE bought Enron’s wind-power assets and this strategic buy appears to one of the few things GE touched that did not fail.

All of this success of Enron’s lost talent and sold assets highlights a root cause of Enron’s collapse. If the company had stuck to what it and its founder, Ken Lay (now deceased), knew best, it would have been an energy giant today. It was the foray into derivatives and off-the-book entities and just generally mumbo-jumbo finance wizardry that brought about the company’s collapse. Unnecessary risk, wheeling and dealing, investments in and sales of barges, and a host of other highfalutin financial tricks of the trade were self-destructive. Enron execs were shooting for the status of #1 in the world. They should have stuck with the more modest and achievable and sustainable goal of #1 in energy. Of all the words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, “It might have been.” Here’s to a wiser and prudent life to Mr. Skilling now that he has paid his debt to society.

About mmjdiary

Professor Marianne Jennings is an emeritus professor of legal and ethical studies from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, retiring in 2011 after 35 years of teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in ethics and the legal environment of business. During her tenure at ASU, she served as director of the Joan and David Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics from 1995-1999. In 2006, she was appointed faculty director for the W.P. Carey Executive MBA Program. She has done consulting work for businesses and professional groups including AICPA, Boeing, Dial Corporation, Edward Jones, Mattel, Motorola, CFA Institute, Southern California Edison, the Institute of Internal Auditors, AIMR, DuPont, AES, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Motorola, Hy-Vee Foods, IBM, Bell Helicopter, Amgen, Raytheon, and VIAD. The sixth edition of her textbook, Case Studies in Business Ethics, was published in February 2011. The ninth edition of her textbook, Business: lts Legal, Ethical and Global Environment was published in January 2011. The 23rd edition of her book, Business Law: Principles and Cases, will be published in January 2013. The tenth edition of her book, Real Estate Law, will also be published in January 2013. Her book, A Business Tale: A Story of Ethics, Choices, Success, and a Very Large Rabbit, a fable about business ethics, was chosen by Library Journal in 2004 as its business book of the year. A Business Tale was also a finalist for two other literary awards for 2004. In 2000 her book on corporate governance was published by the New York Times MBA Pocket Series. Her book on long-term success, Building a Business Through Good Times and Bad: Lessons from Fifteen Companies, Each With a Century of Dividends, was published in October 2002 and has been used by Booz, Allen, Hamilton for its work on business longevity. Her latest book, The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse was published by St. Martin’s Press in July 2006 and has been a finalist for two book awards. Her weekly columns are syndicated around the country, and her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Reader's Digest. A collection of her essays, Nobody Fixes Real Carrot Sticks Anymore, first published in 1994 is still being published. She has been a commentator on business issues on All Things Considered for National Public Radio. She has served on four boards of directors, including Arizona Public Service (1987-2000), Zealous Capital Corporation, and the Center for Children with Chronic Illness and Disability at the University of Minnesota. She was appointed to the board of advisors for the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators in 2004 and served on the board of trustees for Think Arizona, a public policy think tank. She has appeared on CNBC, CBS This Morning, the Today Show, and CBS Evening News. In 2010 she was named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Business Ethics by Trust Across America. Her books have been translated into four different languages. She received the British Emerald award for authoring one of their top 50 articles in management publications, chosen from over 15,000 articles. Personal: Married since 1976 to Terry H. Jennings, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Deputy County Attorney; five children: Sarah, Sam, and John, and the late Claire and Hannah Jennings.
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