Jeff Skilling was the CEO of Enron Corporation in 2001 and was convicted of multiple federal felony charges relating to Enron’s financial collapse. Skilling was a consultant for McKinsey and Company and worked with Enron in 1987, he helped create a forward market for the in natural gas. Skilling impressed Kenneth Lay and was hired by Enron in 1990 as chairman and chief executive officer of Enron Finance Corp. In 1991 he became the chairman of the Enron Gas Services Co., which was the result of the merger of Enron Gas Marketing and Enron Finance Corp. In 1997 he was again promoted to President and chief operating officer, only second to Kenneth Lay. Skilling began creating a new idea where the company didn’t really need assets but by pushing the company’s aggressive investment strategy he helped make Enron the biggest wholesaler of gas and electricity. In 2001 Skilling was named CEO of Enron receiving 132 million dollars in a single year.
The firms figures were astounding but had to be taken at face value, under Skilling, Enron adopted the market-to-market accounting, which anticipated future profits from any deal were tabulated as if it was real today. Enron could record gains from what over time could turn out as losses. This way when the company’s fiscal health dropped it could still maintain high stock prices. This meant more investor capital that could help dig Enron from the debt that it had obtained over years. In August of 2001 Skilling unexpectedly resigned claiming personal reasons. He soon sold large blocks of his shares in the company. Kenneth Lay then took over again as CEO of the company but Enron had to declare bankruptcy in December of 2001.
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