BusinessWeek Questions

I think it's worth answering most of these, and possibly putting up Greg for an interview?

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephanie Anderson Forest <stephanie_forest@businessweek.com<@ENRON
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2001 7:39 PM
To: kdenne@enron.com; Stephanie Forest
Subject: questions

hi karen,
as discussed, here are the questions i'd like to run by ken lay, greg
whalley, mark frevert or one of enron's other top execs. as mentioned,
because of continuing breaking news on enron, the deadline for the story
has been pushed up by several days. thus, i would need to get responses
back by end of day tomorrow, oct. 23. if necessary, i could probably get
editors to extend that deadline to first thing wednesday morning,
providing it's absolutely necessary to get cooperation from enron for
this story. i'd obviously prefer to speak with someone by phone. but if
that's not possible, feel free to just have ken, or whomever might be
handle the questions, respond by e-mail.

-when i interviewed ken lay following jeff skilling's resignation, he
insisted there was "no other shoe to drop." according to many analysts
and investors i've spoken to in recent days, the events over the last
few days appear to be a pretty big shoe -- or shoes. what gives?
-were any of these events tied to jeff skilling's resignation?
-what's ken lay's strategy for getting enron back on track?
-how difficult is that task shaping up to be?
-what role will wholesale energy services and retail energy services
play in that?
-what role will european expansion play in that?
-is there a connection between the recent announcement of a 10-15% staff
layoff in european operations and flat 3q earnings even while revenues
rose?
-what role will some of the newer investments, such as broadband and new
power, play going forward?
-why did new power account for such a big portion of the 3q $1.01
billion write-off? explain the challenges facing new power.
-how have some of the other newer commodity trading businesses, such as
pulp and paper and steel, been faring? why did others, such as
advertising, not pan out?
-is it fair to say it appears enron's trading methodology is not
expandable to just about all commodities after all, like jeff skilling
suggested in the past?
-if that is the case, will enron be less willing to experiment with
attempting to expand the model to new areas in the future?
-what impact, if any, will falling energy prices have on enron?
-have investors seen the last of write-offs or will there be more? if
so, how much more, in what areas and when could that happen?
-at least one analyst has estimated there could be at least $3 billion
more worth of charges related to other off-balance sheet financing
vehicles. how many such vehicles does enron have and is this estimate in
the ballpark?
-please explain the reason for these vehicles (i.e. what did enron get
out of doing them) and how they work?
-how many of these off-balance sheet financing vehicles are there? like
the deals involving andy fastow, will they ultimately be unwound, too?
-is osprey a good example of one these vehicles? how does it work? will
it ultimately be unraveled, too?
-in all, how many of these off-balance sheet financing vehicles was andy
fastow involved in -- some sources say as many as 14 or 15 more that
enron has not yet disclosed?
-how much did andy fastow and other enron execs make off of these deals?

-while these deals were approved by the board, didn't ken lay or the
board see the potential for conflict of interests in these deals?
-also, while these off-balance sheet vehicles were designed to limit
enron's risks, weren't they themselves risky considering what could
happen if enron's stock dropped?
-any response to the lawsuits that are starting to pour in as a result
of the andy fastow-related partnerships?
-any concern about enron's investment grade? what are the implications
if that drops for the company?
-enron's relationship with wall street has been unraveling for some
months now. where does ken lay think the company went wrong in it's
relationship with wall street -- overhyping broadband, lack of
disclosure, etc.?
-despite more transparency in last week's earnings report, wall street
says that should only be a start. is there more transparency to come?
-what's ken lay's strategy for regaining credibility with wall street?
-how long will it take to achieve that?
-what lessons, if any, has ken lay learned from the events of the last
few months?

that should do it. give a call if you have any questions.
thanks,
stephanie