Jeff Skilling net worth
Number of divisions: 10
What is Jeff Skilling’s net worth and salary?
Jeff Skilling is a convicted American criminal, best known for serving as the former CEO of Enron Corporation. At the time of writing, Jeff Skilling’s net worth is $500,000. Jeff joined Enron in 1990 and served as CEO from February 12, 2001 to August 14, 2001. Enron filed for bankruptcy in December 2001, when it was the largest corporate bankruptcy case in American history.
In 2006, Skilling was convicted on multiple federal felony charges related to Enron’s financial collapse. He was charged with 35 frauds, insider trading and other crimes related to the Enron scandal and surrendered to the FBI on February 19, 2004. He was sentenced to 24 years and four months in prison. After serving 12 years in prison, he was transferred to the halfway house in August 2018 and was released in February 2019. The trial began on January 30, 2006. Skilling became known for his bad attitude and arrogance, and even lost his temper in the witness box during the trial.In addition to imprisonment, Skilling was fined 45 million USDCompared with the billions of dollars lost by thousands of Enron investors, this is only a drop in the bucket.
early life
Jeffrey Keith Skilling was born on November 25, 1953 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the second of four children Betty and Thomas Skilling Jr. Skilling grew up between New Jersey and Aurora, Illinois. At the age of 16, he got a job at WLXT TV in Aurora. He graduated from West Aurora High School and received a full scholarship from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where he initially studied engineering and then transferred his studies to business.
Profession
After graduating in 1975, he worked at the Houston Bank, which sent him to Harvard Business School, where he earned an MBA and ranked in the top 5% of the class as a Baker scholar. He became a consultant for McKinsey & Company and became one of their youngest partners. During this position, Skilling worked with Enron in 1987 to help the company create a natural gas forward market. Skilling’s status as a consultant impressed Kenneth Lay and was hired by Lay as Chairman and CEO of Enron Financial Corporation in 1990.
In 1991, Skilling became the chairman of Enron Gas Services Co. due to the merger of Enron Gas Marketing and Enron Finance Corp. Skilling was appointed as CEO and Managing Director of Enron Capital and Trade Resources and was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer. Enron was established in 1997. Under Skilling’s management, Enron adopts “market-to-market” accounting to predict the future profit of any transaction by estimating the present value of the transaction rather than the historical cost. The plan helped Enron become the largest natural gas and electricity wholesaler, with a quarterly transaction volume of 27 billion U.S. dollars. On February 12, 2001, Skilling was appointed as CEO of Enron, replacing Lay. On August 14 of the same year, Skilling unexpectedly resigned for personal reasons and quickly sold a large number of his shares in the company.
Highest paid CEO/stock sales
At the peak of his career, Skilling was one of the highest paid CEOs in the world. Between February 2000 and February 2001, Skilling’s income exceeded $130 million in salary and bonuses. One month after leaving Enron, Skilling sold $60 million worth of Enron stock. Soon after, Enron went bankrupt, leading prosecutors to accuse him of selling these stocks, along with inside information that Enron was about to go bankrupt. Skilling was prosecuted shortly after 35 frauds, insider trading and other crimes related to Enron’s financial collapse and bankruptcy. He surrendered to the FBI on February 19, 2004, and pleaded not guilty to all charges. The indictment emphasized that he is likely to understand Enron’s internal fraudulent transactions and may be directly involved in them. Skilling’s main lawyer is the civil litigation lawyer Daniel Petcelli, who represented Ron Goldman in a successful civil lawsuit filed by Ron Goldman’s father over the death of OJ Simpson’s son.
Dave Einsel/Getty Images
Trial/conviction and imprisonment
The trial began in Houston in January 2006. Enron filed for bankruptcy in December 2001, the largest bankruptcy case in the history of the United States, causing 20,000 employees to lose their jobs. Subsequently, many of them also lost their life savings. Investors also lost billions of dollars. Skilling and many of the company’s executives sold a significant portion of their Enron stock before filing for bankruptcy, making a substantial profit. On May 26, 2006, the jury ruled Skilling: one count of conspiracy, one count of insider trading, five counts of making false statements to auditors, twelve counts of securities fraud, and nine counts Innocent insider trading. He was sentenced to 24 years and 4 months in prison.
Skilling began serving his sentence at the Montgomery Federal Prison Camp at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama on December 13, 2006. He stayed there until 2018, when he was released early and moved to a halfway house in Texas to serve the remaining sentence. Skilling was released from federal supervision on February 21, 2019. According to a Reuters report in June 2020, Skilling is raising funds for the launch of an online oil and gas trading platform called Vend LLC.
According to reports, Skilling spent $70 million defending himself in dozens of costly lawsuits and appeals. A large part of this money, nearly 23 million U.S. dollars, was only used as a retainer for his team of defense lawyers. In May 2013, Skilling agreed to finally pay the $45 million in compensation he owed the victim.
personal life
His first marriage to Susan Long ended in 1997, during which time he had a daughter and two sons (22, 20 and 16 years old at the time of conviction). His youngest son, John Taylor (JT), was found dead in his Santa Ana California apartment on February 3, 2011. The police said this was the result of a drug overdose. In March 2002, Skilling married Rebecca Carter, former vice president of communications and secretary of the board of directors of Enron.
