Enron Mail

From:w..pereira@enron.com
To:kenneth.lay@enron.com
Subject:ENRON - A Study in How So Few Could Screw So Many
Cc:
Bcc:
Date:Tue, 13 Nov 2001 11:38:01 -0800 (PST)

Mr. Lay-

After reading the news of your $60,000,000 to $80,000,000 payout, I am disg=
usted and appalled all over again. Unfortunately, that's a daily occurrenc=
e.=20

I have been employed with Enron since May of 1993, when Enron purchased LRC=
. I was very skeptical of Enron back then and was unsure of my future with=
the company. As time went on, I got more comfortable with the Enron way a=
nd learned how to survive and even be a little successful here. I became a=
believer in the things Enron could accomplish, a champion of our hard-nose=
d, driven executives (at least some of them). I bought Enron stock and hel=
d on to those valuable options.

Over the last 18 months, my coworkers and I have viewed the weekly, sometim=
es daily, selling of Enron stock and exercising of options by our top execu=
tives (past and present and including you). We came up with all kinds of r=
easons that the executives would be doing this -- they're so overly compens=
ated that they have to cash out some every now and then, divorce settlement=
s, mistress settlements, buying a new home in Aspen, buying an island in th=
e Caribbean, etc., etc. etc.... We never wanted to admit that they knew so=
mething we didn't. Things were great, weren't they? Jeff Skilling told us=
that Enron was going to be the "World's Leading Company." He even put the=
goofy acronyms on his car license plate. He told us gas traders in Februa=
ry how the stock was going to $126 by the end of the year. Now, being the c=
ynic that I am, I didn't believe the $126, although I have to admit I was h=
opeful; I figured that if Jeff had the audacity to throw out a number that =
high, then it was reasonable to expect the stock to be fairly stable, i.e.,=
+/- 20%. =20

Needless to say, I didn't sell my stock and didn't exercise any more option=
s. In fact, I bought more stock when it first started going down. I'm afr=
aid that there are many more just like me. I'm fortunate in that I have ma=
ny working years ahead of me (where, I don't know) to try to build up my sa=
vings again. Many others are not that fortunate. So many have spent their=
entire careers here, helping to build this company up. They were looking =
forward to retiring soon and enjoying the fruits of their labor. And let m=
e remind you that their retirement accounts were in many cases a lot less t=
han a month's compensation for you. Now even that is essentially gone. Ot=
her employees were just ready to cash in some of their options to pay for t=
heir children's college tuition. The stories are too numerous to list, and=
the more I think about it, the more sickened I become.

It is painfully obvious to me and my coworkers, as well as the rest of the =
industry and Houston, that Enron's executives knew that there were skeleton=
s in the closet and began cashing in ahead of this freefall. The employees=
and the rest of the world were fed a bunch of half-truths and mystery mumb=
o-jumbo. There should be an accounting for this behavior. You and your co=
horts have ruined so many lives. Think about that while you're spending yo=
ur millions.....


Susan Pereira
ENA Gas Trader