In the fall of the year 2000, there just happened to be a decision point when they asked me to become Chief Executive Officer of the company. It was a time when, as you remember, we were starting to have some real problems in the California energy markets.

Meaning of the quote

This quote is from American criminal Jeffrey Skilling, who was the CEO of a company in the year 2000. At that time, there were serious problems with the energy market in California, and Skilling was asked to become the company's CEO. He seems to suggest that becoming the CEO was just a coincidence, even though the company was facing major issues in the California energy market.

About Jeffrey Skilling

Jeffrey Skilling was the CEO of Enron during the company’s collapse. He was convicted of federal felony charges related to the Enron scandal and sentenced to 24 years in prison, which was later reduced to 14 years after a deal with the Department of Justice. Skilling served 12 years in prison and was released in 2019.

More about the author

More quotes from Jeffrey Skilling

I think we had made some tremendous progress in the six months before I left.

Jeffrey Skilling

former CEO of Enron Corporation

Was I believer in Enron Corporation? Yes, sir, I was.

Jeffrey Skilling

former CEO of Enron Corporation

It was a very difficult 10 years of very hard work.

Jeffrey Skilling

former CEO of Enron Corporation

Are the things that now, in retrospect, with what I’ve seen happen to my company, would I have done some things differently? I think – I think we all would do – we would do a number of things differently.

Jeffrey Skilling

former CEO of Enron Corporation

In the fall of the year 2000, there just happened to be a decision point when they asked me to become Chief Executive Officer of the company. It was a time when, as you remember, we were starting to have some real problems in the California energy markets.

Jeffrey Skilling

former CEO of Enron Corporation

I sold some shares, but on a net basis, significantly increased my ownership.

Jeffrey Skilling

former CEO of Enron Corporation

Well, as we built the business in the 1990’s, as I said, I enjoyed that.

Jeffrey Skilling

former CEO of Enron Corporation

We built that into a wholesale business that became, really, one of the largest companies in the United States. We had success in building new markets, opening markets for competition, and that takes a personal toll.

Jeffrey Skilling

former CEO of Enron Corporation

Well, actually, I had been working as a consultant to former companies of Enron, or predecessor companies of Enron and, so, I joined in 1990 to really start our wholesale merchant business.

Jeffrey Skilling

former CEO of Enron Corporation

We were building a – what I thought was a fantastic company. We had great people. We were changing – we were changing the way the marketplace operated. We were creating a market for natural gas and electricity that had never existed before.

Jeffrey Skilling

former CEO of Enron Corporation

I thought the stock was a great buy. I think anybody that bought the stock in 1999 was – saw over the next couple of years a strong growth. During the year of 1999, I significantly increased my ownership of shares in the company.

Jeffrey Skilling

former CEO of Enron Corporation

Larry, I spent probably most of my professional life helping to build Enron Corporation. I don’t think there was anyone that was as shocked by the – by the collapse of the company as I was.

Jeffrey Skilling

former CEO of Enron Corporation

The indictment, in a lot of ways, that was the turning point.

Jeffrey Skilling

former CEO of Enron Corporation