Word: enronization
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...grilling of ex-Enron CEO Jeff Skilling is over. Next up is what prosecutors hope will be the filleting of company founder Ken Lay, who will take the witness stand Monday in the ongoing fraud and conspiracy trial...
...thing is for sure: For the business trial of the century, the Enron trial thus far has been something of a letdown - especially its peek into the Enron executive suite. Lay and Skilling may have transformed a stodgy natural-gas carrier into a global trader in everything from energy to weather futures and broadband, but the two men remained surprisingly old-school when it came to technology. Take Skilling, a Harvard School of Business grad and master of this brave new digital world. When the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission went after Enron for the California energy crisis, it built...
...When he and Berkowitz argued about the actual vs. the book value of Enron's international assets - assets that were dragging down Enron's finances -Skilling responded, with brutal honesty, that businesses don't tell all. But he hemmed and hawed for 10 minutes over a simple prosecution question about his responsibility to shareholders - refusing to admit he had done anything wrong. "We see the real Skilling here," said Michael Wynne, a former federal prosecutor who is attending the trial to prepare for case against banks that raised funds for Enron...
...prosecution's task with Skilling - and next week with Lay - is to cast doubt on their contention that they were unaware of the financial shenanigans of ex-CFO Andrew Fastow and his financial Team. How could Skilling, the man who testified he "bled Enron blue" and was involved in all major strategic decisions, not know that his lieutenants were manufacturing the numbers? In court he claimed he didn't know he had a responsibility to oversee Fastow's questionable transactions. Yet prosecutors pointed out at least one of the transactions was discussed at a board of directors' finance meeting...
That doesn't mean you should dismiss Wall Street research out of hand. Much of what analysts produce is helpful, especially if what you seek is broad background on an industry. Occasionally, analyst conclusions are earth moving. Recent testimony in the trial of former Enron top dogs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling revealed it was an analyst who first questioned the company's finances, prompting Skilling to fret aloud, "They...