Word: winokur
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...blame? Everybody else. Mintz and McMahon nudged the cloud upward toward Skilling (and Lay, and Buy and Causey and Kopper and Fastow). Robert Jaedicke and Herbert Winokur, two Enron board members trying to explain why they missed the whole thing, did likewise, throwing in Arthur Andersen and law firm Vinson & Elkins. Said Winokur: "It appears outside experts...failed us." Officials at both Arthur Andersen and Enron, added Jaedicke, "did not fulfill their duty...
...result, it’s hard to believe that Winokur didn’t know what Enron was getting into. What did the presentation describe as the principal risk the transactions posed? “Accounting scrutiny.” The second risk was that Enron stock would go down, in which case (according to an Enron internal memo) the program would “terminate early and may return credit risk to Enron.” But that risk was not always adequately disclosed to the shareholders whom it was Winokur’s duty as a director...
...report’s ability to answer these questions is limited by its own conflict of interest, as Winokur was one of the co-authors. He apparently recused himself from sections of the report specifically evaluating the board’s actions. But every time the report pins the blame on top executives who kept the board in the dark, it partially absolves the directors from responsibility. The report goes to great lengths to show Fastow and his treacherous underlings as the real villains in this morality play, as well as to explain and justify the board?...
...already know some parts of the story, and they don’t look good for Winokur. Perhaps Winokur really didn’t know what was happening at Enron; perhaps he slept comfortably through meetings, trusted management wholeheartedly and ignored every red flag. But this brings us back to the original question: is he the right person to govern Harvard...
...seven-member Corporation is our board of directors, obligated to represent Harvard’s interests in overseeing present management. It chooses its own successors, and its decisions are subject to little effective review. Given his experience at Enron, even when cast in the most favorable light, is Winokur the right person to exercise this authority? Are there no better candidates to serve on the board of the Harvard Management Company, which oversees the endowment, or on the Committee on Shareholder Responsibility? Can Winokur be trusted to guard the guardians...