----- Forwarded by Sharonda Stephens/Corp/Enron on 12/13/2000 01:03 PM -----

	"ANN SCHMIDT, ENRON CORP." <ENRONPR@bloomberg.net>
	12/13/2000 01:00 PM
		 
		 To: sharonda.stephens@enron.com
		 cc: 
		 Subject: (DJN ) WSJ.COM WRAP: Skilling To Become Enron's Next CEO >EN


        HELLO




WSJ.COM WRAP: Skilling To Become Enron's Next CEO >ENE
12/13/0 13:18 (New York)



   A WSJ.com News Roundup

  HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--Enron Corp. (ENE) on Wednesday named  Jeffrey K.
Skilling chief executive to replace Kenneth L. Lay, who said he will step down
but continue to serve as chairman of the utility and telecommunications
company.
  Skilling, 47 years old, will take on the new role on Feb.  12, the company's
next scheduled board meeting, while remaining president and chief operating
officer.
  "Jeff is a big part of Enron's success and is clearly ready to lead the
company," Lay, 58, said in a written statement. Lay became chairman and chief
executive in 1986.
  Lay also denied rumors that he was interested in becoming  U.S. secretary of
energy or Treasury secretary in George W. Bush's administration, should the
Texas governor become the next president. Enron and Lay were big contributors
to the Bush campaign.
  "I have no plans to go to Washington and no plans to leave Houston or 
Enron,"
he said. "I can say categorically that I won't be taking a job in a Bush
cabinet."
  "I am particularly happy that Ken and I will continue running the company
together and that he has put the rumors of his possible departure to
Washington, D.C., to rest," Skilling said. "Ken and I have worked together
since 1990, and we don't want to break up a team that has delivered superior
returns to Enron's shareholders."
  Skilling is credited as generating substantial profits for Enron and being
the brains behind the company's burgeoning commodities-trading business. That
business was seeking to place the company at the top of markets ranging from
electricity to wood pulp to natural gas.
  Enron, which began as a traditional gas-pipeline company 15 years ago, has
transformed itself into the largest trader of gas and electricity in North
America.
  Skilling joined Enron in 1990 after leading McKinsey & Co.'s energy and
chemical consulting operations. He became Enron's president and operating 
chief
in December 1996. He emerged as the heir apparent to Lay after Rebecca Mark
resigned in August as chief executive of Azurix Corp. (AZX), Enron's troubled
global water company. Deregulation of the water business and government
privatizations of water systems, on which Azurix was counting, were slow to
come, crimping growth opportunities and profit.
  -Wall Street Journal staff reporter Rebecca Smith contributed to this
article.
  -For continuously updated news from The Wall Street Journal, see WSJ.com at
http://wsj.com.

  (END) DOW JONES NEWS  12-13-00
  01:18 PM- - 01 18 PM EST 12-13-00