Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Jeffrey Skilling: Former Enron CEO

Jeffrey Keith Skilling (bornNovember 25, 1953) is a convicted felon best known as the CEO ofEnron Corporation during the Enron scandal. In 2006, he was convictedof federal felony charges relating to Enron's collapse and eventuallysentenced to 24 years in prison. The Supreme Court of the UnitedStates heard arguments in the appeal of the case March 1, 2010. OnJune 24, 2010, the Supreme Court vacated part of Skilling'sconviction and transferred the case back to the lower court forresentencing.

In April 2011, a three-judge panel ofthe Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the verdict would havebeen the same despite the legal issues being discussed, andSkilling's conviction was confirmed; however, the court ruledSkilling should be resentenced. Skilling appealed this new decisionto the Supreme Court, but the appeal was denied. In 2013, the UnitedStates Department of Justice reached a deal with Skilling, whichresulted in ten years being cut from his sentence, reducing it to 14years. He was moved to a halfway house in August 2018 and releasedfrom custody in February 2019, after serving 12 years. In June 2020,Skilling was reported by Reuters to be fundraising for launch of anonline oil and gas trading platform named Veld LLC.

Early life

Jeffrey Keith Skilling was born inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on November 25, 1953, the second of fourchildren of Betty (née Clarke) and Thomas Ethelbert Skilling, Jr. His father was a sales manager for an Illinois valve company. Hisolder brother, Tom Skilling, later became chief meteorologist atWGN-TV in Chicago. Skilling grew up between New Jersey and Aurora,Illinois. When he was 16 years old, he worked at WLXT-TV (channel60), a UHF television station in Aurora. He graduated from WestAurora High School and received a full scholarship to SouthernMethodist University in Dallas, Texas, where he was a member of theBeta Theta Pi fraternity.

Skilling initially studied engineeringbefore changing to business. After graduating in 1975, he went towork as a corporate planner for First City Bancorporation of Houston,Texas. He quit by 1977 to attend Harvard Business School. Accordingto Skilling, during his admissions interview for Harvard BusinessSchool, he was asked if he was smart, to which he replied, "I'mfucking smart." This apparently so impressed theinterviewer that it secured his place at the school. He earned hisMBA from Harvard Business School in 1979, graduating in the top 5% ofhis class as a Baker Scholar.

After graduation, Skilling became aconsultant at McKinsey & Company in the energy and chemicalconsulting practices. He eventually became one of the youngestpartners in the history of McKinsey.

Enron

As a consultant for McKinsey &Company, Skilling worked with Enron during 1987, helping the companycreate a forward market in natural gas. Skilling impressed KennethLay in his capacity as a consultant, and was hired by Lay during 1990as chairman and chief executive officer of Enron Finance Corp. In1991, he became the chairman of Enron Gas Services Co., which was aresult of the merger of Enron Gas Marketing and Enron Finance Corp.Skilling was named CEO and managing director of Enron Capital andTrade Resources, which was the subsidiary responsible for energytrading and marketing. He was promoted to president and chiefoperating officer of Enron during 1997, second only to Lay, whileremaining the manager of Enron Capital and Trade Resources.