Dear Ken:

I am very sad to see what has happened to such a big icon in Houston.  I am very sorry to see you struggle through this and try to remain at a high level.  I am very pleased to see you chose to stay with the company and work at what I hope is its new birth and positive rise in society and business community.

I had a chance to meet with you a little over a year ago at a charity function.  While I am no expert in the energy business and I'm but a college student at the present time, I would like to share a view from the other side of the inner loop your used to.   Before I met you everyone I spoke with had nothing but wonderful things to say about you and what a genious you are.  After the news came out about the misfortune of Enron, some of those same people started bad mouthing some of the same people they praised.   It made me sick and made me think very little of those individuals.  I was concerned because I could not believe that you would intentionally and knowingly do something that would jeopardize the very company you helped build.  The day I saw you make the decision to not leave or step down as CEO I knew then that you must not have been directly involved in the coverup done by your previous COO and a couple of other top executives you had entrusted.   Those few people,!
 one of which you had recently hired, all quit just before the news came out about Enron bookkeeping.

I feel safe in saying you must have been misadvised by those few people or you did not know what they were doing behind your back.  It is obvious they were not working for Enron like you, but rather "at" Enron to try to steal as much money and benefites they could and then head for the hills, which is what they did.   The mere act of having several top executives quit working at Enron after a short stay at the company and then cashing out on their holdings tells me it was intentional and I consider them thieves.  It would be a different story had they stayed like you and really cared about the company and what it represents and does for society as a whole.

I feel very sorry for those investors and employees who have been devestated by what has happened. BUT, it makes me very angry to hear people and writers casting stones on you and a company that has done so much over the past several years for so many.   Enron has funded more charity events and backed more functions and elections than most.  Now when the tide has turned and (due to a few greedy top executive decisions) Enron is in the position of needing help, everyone is out for blood and looking to end a company that still represent the same work it did before, but whose value has decreased because of word of mouth and the stupid greed of your previous employees.

Some people I have talked with say Enron is finished and is only a matter of time before it is gone.  That makes me angry too.  From what I see you have not given up on the company nor have you abandoned ship.  That tells me you may be trying to rebuild the company and its reputation.   That would be the greatest thing to do and show those who are out for Enrons demise (and who can do nothing but bad mouth) just what your really made of and put them in their place.  I have been reading nothing but negative articles about the company.   I feel like it is not the company, because that would mean every single employee would be to blame.  Rather the writers should focus on the few individuals who cashed out and split.

I would hope you could remember back 4 or 5 years ago when the company was really thriving and doing well.  I hope you can remember the good things about the company and the fact that it can still (and does) make money from its businesses.  It can turn around if you want it to.   I would hope you can make the trading business and other companies held by Enron what it once was without having to sell off too many of the future profitable ones and make use of the two beutiful buildings now towering over Houston's skyline.  I call those Houston's twin towers.

Other large companies in the past have turned around after similar set backs as horrible as this with Enron.  Your turn around would be record setting.  I heard about others (like the teachers retirement fund) making noise about wanting to take Enron to court because they invested millions.   That is stupid because it is their choice to invest and their risk to take, especially making it after the news broke about the company.  Sure they trusted that Dynegy would merge, so perhaps their frustration should be aimed at Dynegy or perhaps use their collective educated minds together to help find a way to turn Enron around and make their investment purposful rather than throwing stones.

I think Dynegy is a wonderful company as well, but it "was mean" for them to come out and say "yes they would merge" and then not.  I realize it's all business and people like to make money, but it's another thing to flat steal and lie (like your executives you trusted did) rather than profit from hard work and honesty.

I personally know of many large corporations and politicians who have things to hide that would cause problems like yours.  Your company is not alone, which is why I am so angry at others throwing stones at you and Enron.  This would not happen if there were'nt executives in corporate industries like the ones you entrusted your company to who try to take rather than give and earn from it.   Perhaps many should learn from Colleen Barrett, COO of Southwest Airlines.  Do you know that they are the only airlines to refuse federal aid recently and they are doing better then most airlines.

Good luck and thank you for hanging in there and making me believe there are still some good top CEO's out there.

--




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