Sherron Watkins, the Enron vice president who wrote the infamous memo to Ken Lay in August of 2001 warning of her fear that the company was about to "collapse in a wave of accounting scandals", has resigned her position with the company. I have to say, not only did I not realize that she was still employed there, I sometimes forget that there is still an entity called Enron doing business. Enron had been paying the legal bills for employees who were being asked to participate in the various government investigations. Watkins will be on her own in that department now, so that probably means she's not expecting to testify much any more.
She plans to continue speaking and giving lectures, and will explore the idea of consulting on corporate governance.Watkins, 43, is also collaborating with Texas Monthly writer Mimi Swartz on Power Failure, a book scheduled to come out this spring. The two are sharing an advance of about $500,000.
Am I the only one who thinks that the media's fawning of her has been excessive? A closer reading of the memo demonstrated (to me, anyway) that her goal wasn't to stop because it was wrong but because they might get caught and her advice, rather than some cry for ethics was a self-serving attempt to get in good with Ken Lay...
or maybe it's just me.
Posted by: Hiatusblogger on November 16, 2002 3:30 PMSome people have read it that way - there's a mention of that in the story. I think she still had faith in Ken Lay and hoped that he'd put things right, which makes her more naive than self-serving. I suspect her book will give a better idea of her intent.
Posted by: Charles Kuffner on November 16, 2002 7:54 PM