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Enron Mail |
POWER POINTS: Skilling Moves On To Charities, Family
By Mark Golden Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Jeff Skilling will be spending the next few years working with charities in Houston and spending time with family, the former chief executive of Enron Corp. (ENE) said in an interview. The 47-year-old Skilling, who resigned abruptly from Enron after the company's board meeting Aug. 14, repeatedly said he had left - as stated - for personal reasons. Wall Street has been skeptical of the explanation, and several analysts have said they're waiting for "the other shoe to drop." The company's stock price fell 14% in response to the announcement last week - a loss of about $4.5 billion in shareholder value - and hasn't recovered this week. But the former chief executive said the stock price will recover once investors see that his departure isn't a precursor to more bad news for the company. "I've spent the last 34 years working really hard," said Skilling, who requested the interview with Dow Jones Newswires. "There are a lot of things that I haven't been doing - personal interests, spending time with family. There are a number of charitable things that I haven't spent the time on that I believe I should. I don't mean fundraising, but hands on, getting out and doing things, building houses, helping individuals." Skilling, who has been involved with a multiple sclerosis charity for years, said he plans to get involved in promoting the City of Houston. "It's massively underrated as a place to work and live," he said. "It's a great city, and I think I can do a lot to get that across." Though insistent that there is nothing more to his departure than personal reasons, Skilling said little to reveal why a talented executive would surrender the top spot of the country's largest energy trading company just six months after taking the job. Skilling had been Enron's No. 2 executive from 1997 until this year, and he's generally credited with the success of Enron's wholesale trading operations, which comprise about 80% of the parent's earnings. He confirmed there's no crisis in his family, and his health is fine. Skilling, who assumed the chief executive title on Feb. 12, also denied that he was suffering under the strain of the job. Late last week, Chairman Kenneth Lay and other Enron executives in New York told Wall Street analysts that Skilling had been going "kind of nuts" under the pressure of being chief executive, one analyst said. "It's not true that I was cracking up," he said. "Do I sound like someone who is cracking up? The representation of me as thick-skinned is a reasonable representation." When asked if his departure could have been handled more smoothly so as not to alarm investors, Skilling said that perhaps the mechanics could have been better, but said that is hindsight. "We thought it through and thought we were going about it in the right way," he said. "I don't know what we could have done differently. It will turn out, in retrospect, fine, as soon as people see that there's nothing else." About One Week's Notice The former chief executive totally disagreed with speculation in this column last week that Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay, who immediately resumed the role of chief executive, may have wanted to regain day-to-day control of the company and pushed Skilling out. "I think the world of Ken. You can't find a bigger fan of his than me," he said. "I was not forced out. Personal and family reasons are 100% of the story. I guess it's kind of mundane, and I'm sorry it doesn't have as much drama and suspense as a lot of people would like it to have, but that's what the deal is." Skilling said he spoke with Lay about wanting to do other things many times over the years. The first serious discussion of his imminent departure came about a week before the announcement, said Skilling, whose recollection of his giving notice to Lay was somewhat cloudy. "The board knew what was going on, and that was the point (the Aug. 14 board meeting) where the decisions were going to be made," he said. The decisions? "I guess to accept my resignation," Skilling said. Enron refused to release a copy of the minutes of the Aug. 14 board meeting, which was regularly scheduled. The company doesn't generally release board-meeting minutes, spokeswoman Karen Denne said. The former chief executive continues to work as a paid adviser to Enron. A clause in his contract prevents him from competing with the company through the end of 2003, and he has no plans to work outside the energy industry. That might sound like a big comedown from running the country's most aggressive energy company, but Skilling said the move fits. "Some people say 'Well, you were working and aspiring so long to become CEO of Enron.' That's not true. I was working to build a business, and we did," said Skilling, who is credited with transforming the company into a trading powerhouse. "The company I built is doing great. My life is moving on." He also said the company will do fine without him. Some analysts have expressed concern about Enron's ability to retain its top talent. Skilling's predecessor as Enron's No. 2 executive, Richard Kinder, for example, left the company in 1996 after Lay announced that he would be retaining the chief executive spot for another five years. Kinder went on to buy Enron's small liquids pipeline business and turned that company into Kinder-Morgan Inc. (KMI). Enron's current management, Skilling said, has a "very deep bench." For example, he described Enron Energy Services Chief Executive Dave Delaney as "awesome." "Dave created the Canadian business in Enron," Skilling said. -By Mark Golden, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4604; mark.golden@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires 24-08-01 1619GMT(AP-DJ-08-24-01 1619GMT) Symbols: US;ENE US;KMI DE;KN3U Source DJES - Dow Jones Energy Service Categories: I/ELC I/GAS I/PIP I/XISL N/CMD N/CNW N/DJS N/DJWB N/DJWI N/DPG N/NRG N/POV N/WEI M/ENE M/NND M/UTI P/DGA P/DUT R/NAPW R/NME R/TX R/US R/USS MST/I/ELC MST/I/GAS MST/I/PIP MST/N/SUM MST/I MST/R/NME MST/R/US/TX MST/R/US
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