Ken and Jeff convicted

Big deal. As someone who worked for Enron, I remembering seeing the Insider Trading reports on Yahoo!, that showed those two, Lou Pai, and the execs of our division continually selling tons of shares, and we had such convincing rationalizations about that activity.

In a way, I see Ken and Jeff as victims of the same hubris that permeated the company. We were the 'New Corporation' - ushering in something so damn innovative that there was no way to compare Enron with old corporations.

As late as mid-August 2001, just a couple of weeks before I was laid off, I remember getting the company-wide email from Kenny, assuring everyone that the company was fundamentally sound, and the stock price would certainly rebound.

Was he deluded or lying? I say deluded.

Were crimes committed? Yes, I believe so, in the use of 'Mark-to-Market' accounting, and in the California energy manipulations.

Will I ever see a penny from the pending class-action suits? Yes, a penny sounds about right.

Am I bitter about my Enron experience? Nope, I worked with spectacularly clever and fun folks (you know who you are), on exciting (if ultimately-meaningless) projects, and I emerged from those years a better programmer than I was when I signed up.

In the meantime, I have a treasure-trove of Enron clothing and assorted motivational chotchkes, that I hope to bundle up and take to 'Antiques Roadshow', in about 20 years.