"And I am, for better or worse, known as the Enron whistleblower., In August of 2001, Watkins alerted Enron founder Ken Lay, first in an anonymous letter, of shady accounting practices and the threat of animpending implosion.". She did her homework to ensure her facts were accurate. Watkins was born in Tomball, Texas. Federal investigators and Congress then found the work Watkins presented to Lay. A representative for Rice declined to comment on personnel matters. The company filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 2, 2001. Sherron Watkins (born August 28, 1959) is an American former Vice President of Corporate Development at the Enron Corporation. Sherron Watkins exposed corporate misconduct in the infamous Enron scandal paving the way for the enactment of the SOX corporate reform law. I would still be hired to talk about the leadership failures of Enron, she replied. Charles Prestwood is a hard-working blue-collar employee who spent 33 years of his adult life working in the gas industry. Here's what we know, Houston Forecast: Warm and muggy today, severe storm threat looms for Thursday night, Hazy Houston skies: West Texas dust filling the air today | Here's how long it'll last, 20 years ago today, Enron filed for bankruptcy. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Once The Wall Street Journal wrote articles speculating about fraud at Enron, the board of directors started formally investigating accounting concerns, Watkins says. Learn how your comment data is processed. The government contends Skilling also lied about the companys financial condition before he resigned. At Fastows bidding, she examined a list of weak assets Enron wanted to sell that had been tucked into off-balance-sheet financial structures intended to lock in their value. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Watkins now teaches Business Ethics at Texas State University and Corporate Governance and Leadership at North Carolina University. Since then, Watkins has been giving speeches at colleges and management congresses. Watkins, then a mere VP at Enron, was one of the few people to warn CEO Kenneth Lay of the company's impending doom after his predecessor, Jeffrey Skilling, resigned. She worked for various divisions, and by the summer of 2001, then-Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow was her boss. Andersen had won lucrative, non-audit consulting work from Enron, and would not want to jeopardise the. And, sadly, many of them did. News Corp is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services. While Arthur Andersen was not implicated in directly assisting Enron in cooking its books, the company was found to have been woefully negligent in its role of overseeing and auditing Enrons financials. His death resulted in a vacated judgment. As a result, Enron declared bankruptcy, thousands of people lost their jobs, and employee retirement accounts were decimated. Nearly all of his investments were tied up in just one company and that was his former employer, Enron. However, if she did nothing and let the situation continue, she could be considered guilty by association. She said she also interviewed to be an adjunct professor for executive sessions at Rice Universitys business school, a job she didnt get in the end. Put it in writing, but dont get married to fixing it, says Watkins. He is serving a five-year prison sentence, and prosecutors said Wednesday he is expected to testify against Lay and Skilling next week. Major companies all over the world now pay up to 25,000 to hear her speak. Some of these messages came from former employees, some came from famous people, and some came from complete strangers all across the country. Watkins was called to testify before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate at the beginning of 2002, primarily about her warnings to Enron's then-CEO Kenneth Lay about accounting irregularities in the financial statements. Lay responded by asking a few top executives to look into the allegations, and in return, they told him there was nothing to worry about. I shouldnt have gone by myself, she said. Olson ought to know. Frequently, he shirked his teaching duties and did not show up to class. In the end, Watkins was not the only person who knew about the fraud at Enron, but she was the only person to come forward and report it. A Martin Luther King Jr. quote used to be found at the Enron offices: Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent about things that really matter. So, what happened? Known at Enron for her use of colorful language, she was poised and sometimes animated as she deflected defense attempts to rattle her. Different things Ive looked into, there was always just a door kind of slammed at some point, Ms. Watkins said. People found out and demonstrated their support by emailing her, leaving voice mails, and even people around the world would contact her. Watkins doesnt regret blowing the whistle, but there are other whistleblowers that do. That was the case at Enron Corporation, where Watkins served as a vice president. Its not relevant to me at all if they are convicted in this court.. Watkins, believing at the time Lay was unaware of the unethical practices, would save the company he founded by cracking down on bad apples and making an honest admission to investors. Can 5G phones cost less than $100? She testified before Congress and during the trials of fellow Enron officials, including Ken Lay. April 2003 0. In a speech in September 2001, Lay said, Our third quarter is looking great. Sherron Watkins, the plainspoken former vice president whom Congress anointed as a whistleblower after the company's collapse, repeated much of what she said then: Enron needed to come. If the accountants did not go along with this illegal scheme, Enron might fire them. Some cancelled surgeries or could no longer afford to take their prescription drugs. Classroom Curriculum Webinar! She appeared in the 2005 feature documentary, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, and now consults on corporate governance issues. Leaders need to have pristine ethics and keep an ear to the ground. Questionable accounting practices were used routinely but not questioned as long as it was good for business. Sherron Watkins worked for this major company when it declared bankruptcy. Whistleblowing comes with hardship, says Watkins, who received the whistleblower treatment at Enron. If this jury were to acquit, your source of income would dry up, wouldnt it? Skilling lawyer Ron Woods asked. Where was the Dayton peace agreement signed? If you wouldnt want it on the front page of the media, its problematic. Watkins, 47, has made a career as a public speaker about Enron and failed leadership, earning up to $30,000 for each of dozens of appearances, though she said working at Enron was much more lucrative for me. She helped write a 2003 book about Enron. Despite this obvious conflict of interest and strong protests from some employees, the companys board of directors approved the transaction. Watkins served to bolster prosecution allegations that Lay knew Enron was in financial turmoil when he claimed publicly that the company was strong in the fall of 2001. In the real world, however, things are often more complicated. I think the most significant change has been the ability to report anonymously, which is the best protection against blacklisting and retaliation, he added. Why is the Definition of done so important to an agile team? Without trust, Enron had zero credibility. After she uncovered the truth the company of Enron got better. who chairs the whistleblower representation practice at law firm Labaton Sucharow LLP, said, speaking of the repercussions on the career of Ms. Watkins and other whistleblowers whose names became public. What was once the nations seventh-largest company sought bankruptcy protection by years end. WATCH:Clips from Sherron Watkins interview. For a while, it seemed as if no one at Enron had the courage to protest the widespread corruption at the company. She set up a meeting with Lay. Armed with incriminating information, she made a bold decision to expose the illegal activity at Enron. A judge vacated those convictions since Lay died before he was sentenced. Copyright 2023 Click2Houston.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. It never dawned on me that Lay would not go down to the bottom of the ship, says Watkins. You spoke up. Once a check-the-box Christian, she is now active in the Transformational Prayer Ministry and the InnerChange Freedom Initiative at the Carol Vance Unit, in Richmond, helping prisoners rebuild their lives. When Sherron was in eighth grade, she had a significant experience that would prepare her for her role at Enron many years later. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". You werent fired, were you Mr. Kaminski? federal prosecutor Sean Berkowitz asked Tuesday at the fraud and conspiracy trial of Lay and Skilling. Following her report of Enrons use of complicated off-balance-sheet vehicles to mask hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, Ms. Watkins was lauded and even chosen as one of Times Persons of the Year in 2002, alongside two other whistleblowers. Watkins never took her concerns outside the company. Although the Supreme Court reversed the firms conviction, the impact of the scandal combined with the findings of criminal complicity ultimately destroyed the firm. I can tell you, without pulling punches, something stinks here, he said during a Congressional hearing called to investigate the Enron debacle. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Instead, Watkins has refashioned herself as a speaker on faith as well as ethics in the workplace. Watkins was called to testify before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate at the beginning of 2002, primarily about her warnings to Enrons then-CEO Kenneth Lay about accounting irregularities in the financial statements. The former Enron executive who privately warned company founder Kenneth Lay of impending financial doom in the fall of 2001 had another critical meeting with him Wednesday as well as with former Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling, a jury and a phalanx of lawyers in their fraud and conspiracy trial. By December 2, plummeting stock prices, anxious investors and some publicity resulted in bankruptcy. Watkins had a fancy office on the 49th floor. People found out and demonstrated their support by emailing her, leaving voice mails, and even people around the world would contact her. ", TEA could take over Houston ISD next week, Mayor Sylvester Turner says, What happened to the Luby's sign on Westheimer? "And 5,000 people get dumped on the street with nothing., 5000 people get dumped on the street with nothing. Houston-based #Enron famously collapsed 20 years ago today. In a way, its been interesting. She was given the Scales of Justice Award by Court TV and the Women Mean Business Award from Business and Professional Women/USA. Will AI design better chips? My biggest disappointment is that I was really not believed, Watkins said. "In the scheme of life, I think Ken Lay passed away a broken man having failed at being a successful businessman," said Watkins. Earlier in the day, the company's former head of risk and research, Vince Kaminski, testified he tried to do his job in telling top executives when he believed Enron conducted risky business. When the government launched an investigation of Enron to figure out what went wrong, only one person received praise from members of the U.S. Congress. Sherron Watkins, the former Enron accountant who warned higher-ups the company was a house of cards ready to fall. Above all else, she knew the difference between right and wrong. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Sherron Watkins was an Enron VP when she warned boss Ken Lay of an impending implosion.. Enron stock soared as a resultincreasing 25percent in one day. What was Sherrons biggest regret? Representative Cliff Stearns had this to say to Sherron Watkins: I believe that employees such as yourself, in no small measure, contribute to the integrity of our commercial system by insisting that all participants play by the rules. In Watkins situation, the crimes she uncovered were being committed by people who wielded a lot of power and could fire her if they chose to. How did Sherron Watkins show honesty? Watkins demanded honesty from her employer. As Enrons Chairman and CEO, Lay had oversight of Enrons business units and supervised the senior executives and managers of these units, reviewed drafts of public filings and draft press releases, and participated in conference calls with investment analysts. She said she felt shunned after her name became attached to the Enron collapse. She spent eight years at Andersen in both the Houston and New York offices. Award winning investigative journalist who joined KPRC 2 in July 2000. Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Sherron Watkins (born August 28, 1959) is an American former Vice President of Corporate Development at the Enron Corporation. Nearly 20 years after the energy companys collapse, Ms. Watkins, 61 years old, said being labeled a whistleblower has been a challenge to her career ever since. That was the case at Enron Corporation, where Watkins served as a vice president. Enron executives were charged with hundreds of counts of fraud. She acknowledged to Lewis that she didnt know how the Raptors were created or what approvals they had received. Sherrons uncle owned the local supermarket, and her cousin managed the funeral home. Watkins was one of three whistleblowers named as Time magazines persons of the year in 2002. After doing some investigating on her own, Watkins discovered that Enron was part of the worst accounting fraud Ive ever seen. Numbers were being manipulated, losses were being disguised, and people were covering it up. Watkins said her concerns were initially dismissed. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Taking the advice of her mother, Sherron majored in accounting at the University of Texas, where she earned a bachelors degree in 1981 and a masters degree the next year. Lay died in 2006, shortly after he was found guilty of several counts of securities and wire fraud and making false statements. There was immense pressure on employees to close profitable deals at any cost. Watch Now! To her it was okay to challenge authority if it meant uncovering the truth. She felt like she was telling the captain to head down to the hull and check the damage and have everyone man the lifeboats. Sherron Watkins, She didnt report what she knew directly to the government in hopes Enron executives would report it themselves, but later she was interviewed by the SEC and the Justice Department for their investigations into Enron and testified at congressional hearings. Watkins was selected as one of three Persons of the Year 2002 by Time magazine, alongside two other whistleblowers, Cynthia Cooper of WorldCom and Coleen Rowley of the FBI. 5 In the process, she also exposed herself as a whistleblower. The incentives and protection provisions of Dodd-Frank changed the landscape because it attracted legal advocacy and legal support towards the cause of the whistleblower, Ms. Watkins said. Watkins discovered the fraud and reported it to executives. She said speaking engagements allowed her to pay the bills while spending more time with her daughter than a career as a corporate executive would have allowed. Furthermore, almost all of the 900 employees had spent their careers in the energy sector and did not have the necessary qualifications to be working for an Internet provider. In other words, Enron was doing business with itself. Because of her honesty and the courageous role she played at Enron, she is in high demand as a speaker and consultant. For example, if the company met its projected earnings in a given year, executives would transfer some of the earnings to the next year to cover any unexpected losses. She gained fame in January 2002 when a congressional committee leaked her memos to Lay outlining her concerns. She believed that if he knew what she had uncovered, he would remedy the situation and save the company. I should have gotten more people to go with me because Ken Lay dismissed me as one lone voice, one lone opinion.. Senior executives were selling their own stock in the company as fast as they could. She was sure that he would do the right thing. Copyright 2023 Quick-Advices | All rights reserved. He made a decent salary of $65,000 a year and wisely invested a percentage of his income in a retirement account. In 2000, Enron paid Andersen $52 million, including $27 million for consulting services (Weil). A group of former partners bought the name in 2014, creating a firm named Andersen Global. Much has changed for Ms. Watkins since she first raised her concerns at Enron. Husband and father of the Master of Disaster and Chaos Gremlin. Like LJM1, they were similarly backed by Enron stock and used to lock in gains while keeping hundreds of millions of dollars in debt off the energy companys books. For the last 15 years of his career, he was a plant operations worker for a company called Enron. Sherron Watkins was an Enron executive who tried to warn Chief Executive Officer Ken Lay the company's books were being manipulated. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. She joined New York-based MG Trade Finance in 1990 to manage their portfolio of commodity-backed finance assets until October 1993. According to her mother, [Sherron] knew she had to say something. Prior success can make people ignore warning signs in times of trouble. Cynthia Cooper They took huge professional and personal risks to blow the whistle on what went wrong at WorldCom, Enron and the FBIand in so doing helped remind us what American courage and American values are all about.. Next article Why is Shakespeare so important? May 2006 Vinson & Elkins found no reason for concern other than a public relations risk. Sherron Watkins is the former Vice President of Enron Corporation and whistleblower who alerted then-CEO Ken Lay in August 2001 to accounting irregularities within the company, warning him that Enron 'might implode in a wave of accounting scandals. So its a wonderful check and balance.. Ms. Watkins, a former accountant, said that in August 2001 she discussed her concerns that the off-the-books structures known as Raptors would harm the company because they owed Enron some $500 million and had only falling Enron stock to repay the debt. Skilling told me that he decided to transfer my group, he recalled. What they really need to compare it to is what their life would be like if they had rationalized staying silent and how would they really feel about living with that rationalization, says Watkins. In her letter, she laid out the evidence and warned him, I am incredibly nervous that we will implode in a wave of accounting scandals. She wanted assurances that he would investigate her findings and make appropriate changes. REUTERS/Richard Carson. If you would be embarrassed to discuss a transaction with a mentor you respect and admire, its problematic, says Watkins. Kenneth Lay, Tyrone, Missouri, U.S. HOUSTON (CNN) Former Enron executives Jeffrey Skilling and Rebecca Carter were married over the weekend at his home in Houston, a spokeswoman for Skilling told CNN Wednesday. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also launched its own investigation. I walked away with a sense of relief that I had done my duty giving him this information that he needed to know.. According to records, Enron was paying the firm close to $100 million per year for its services. Kaminski refused to bless the unwinding procedure. Watkins began her career in 1982 at Arthur Andersen as an auditor. She was an excellent student and a member of the National Honor Society. Character Development & Leadership, 7752 Clearwater Court, Williamsburg, MI 49690. The problem with innovation is the dark side of pushing your employees that much, says Watkins, who spoke at UNC Kenan-Flagler as part of the Deans Speaker Series. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Fortune named it the Most Innovative Company in America six years in a row from 1996 to 2001. Washington DC, 20006, Anonymous Russian FSB Letters Reveal Internal Turmoil in the Kremlin Part 2, AOL: Appeals Court Strikes Down Part of NC Ag Gag Law, Protects Undercover Investigations, Animal Legal Defense Fund: Fourth Circuit Enjoins North Carolina Ag-Gag Law, Press Release: Leading Whistleblower Protection Organization Applauds Court of Appeals Ruling Enjoining North Carolina Ag Gag Law, Anonymous Russian FSB Letters Reveal Internal Turmoil in the Kremlin Part 1. Even worse, the accounting firm charged with overseeing Enrons finances also gave its okay. 1612 K St. NW, Suite #1100 HOUSTON, Texas Enrons energy empire crumbled exactly 20 years ago in gleaming downtown towers that now house Chevron. Sherron Watkins testified before Congress about Enrons wrong doings. Before Sherron Watkins found herself on the cover of Time, she was just an average citizen like anyone else. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. For that and for the courage of her convictions, Time honored her as Person of the Year for 2002. I had more information than the marketplace did.. However, her integrity held her at a higher standard - the truth. Laid-off employees even created a T-shirt that read, Sherron Watkins, Our Hero. She received hundreds of e-mails, voice mail messages, cards, and letters expressing gratitude for her actions. The two defendants counter that there was no fraud at Enron, and that the company crumbled because of negative publicity and diminished market confidence. He felt just as strongly at an Oct. 22, 2001, meeting of Enron executives, headed by Lay. Good leaders develop those informal lines of communication, she says. During her visit to the Fox School of Business, Cynthia Cooper put an auditorium holding 300 seats in her shoes as the whistleblower of one of the largest corporate scandals that catapulted her into the public consciousness. Watkins still visits Houston on occasion but now works as, among other things, a Texas State University professor. Both Skilling and Carter who tied the knot Saturday have been divorced and have children from previous marriages. Watkins testified today to a congressional subcommittee investigating Enron. If you discover something amiss, seek out your peers and find out how they feel about the situation. Copyright 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Glencore Subsidiary Sentenced, Ordered to Pay $30 Million to Medical Company, Ericsson Compliance Chief to Leave as Company Remains Under U.S. After she uncovered the truth the company of Enron got better. No, she told prosecutor John Hueston when he asked her if her stock sales were proper. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. She was nave to believe that the top executives would do the right thing. She was moved from the executive floor and was not given any real work to do. Sherron Watkins was Vice President of Corporate Development at Enron, a Houston-based energy company that grew to employ 20,000 staff and claimed revenues of over $100 billion in 2000 before its collapse in 2001. Two years later his team, which had been moved from risk assessment to Enrons trading division, was asked to assess the value of financial structures known as Raptors. Except for the drilling rigs that drilled for oil within the city limits, Tomball was an unremarkable small town. Published on February 19, 2004 by Sean Flynt. I think it reflected badly on our country and on corporate America, Had Dodd-Frank been in place while she was at Enron, Ms. Watkins said she would have reported anonymously through an attorney and believes the SEC would have investigated and fined Enron earlier before the minor frauds became major ones. In this case, greed won out over common sense. The fast-paced lifestyle was a lot of fun for a young, single woman, but when she entered her mid-thirties, she decided it was time to return to Texas and settle down. She says she was like a crew member on the Titanic, alerting management that they had hit an iceberg and that they were going to sink. In mid-October 2001, two months after her meeting with Lay, Enron announced massive losses, slashed shareholder equity by $1.2 billion and came under intense pressure from investors. In August 2001, Watkins alerted Lay of accounting irregularities in financial reports. Sherron Watkins, the plainspoken former vice president whom Congress anointed as a whistleblower after the companys collapse, repeated much of what she said then: Enron needed to come clean about potentially disastrous accounting tricks or face implosion. The Most Innovative company in America six years in a row from 1996 to 2001 their portfolio commodity-backed. Go along with this illegal scheme, Enron was doing Business with itself Clearwater Court, Williamsburg, 49690. She acknowledged to Lewis that she didnt know how the Raptors were created or what approvals they had.! And wisely invested a percentage of his investments were tied up in just one company and that was his employer! A fancy office on the cover of Time, she made a bold decision to expose the activity! Local supermarket, and now consults on Corporate Governance and Leadership at North Carolina.. 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The companys financial condition before he was a plant operations worker for a while, it as. Than a public relations risk cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the National Honor Society of of... Being disguised, and letters expressing gratitude for her use of colorful language, she knew difference... Both the Houston and New York offices she told prosecutor John Hueston he!