August 14, 2001 (4,018 days ago) Jeff Skilling resigned from Enron Corporation. There were personal problems he wanted to address, and he wanted to spend more time with his family. Having flirted with the possibility of leaving for quite a long time, he’d finally made his decision and on this day in Enron history, it was announced.
His tenure at Enron was marked by a string of dazzling successes. Like a champion surfer, he caught the wave at exactly the right time. In his case, it seemed like technology, the economy and the business climate in general all converged at exactly the right moment for projects like the Gas Bank, Enron Broadband Services and even Azurix.
But those successes came at a steep cost. Like most successful people, he spent his life at the office. At trial he would later said, “I bled Enron blue.” He would talk about being exhausted, needing to breathe. He was still a relatively young man – only 48 at the time. He could do a lot of things with his remaining years. But first, he wanted to spend some time with his family.
He left the Enron building that day believing he had given the company the best years of his life. He had given all his creative energy, all his passion and his considerable native intelligence to the company. It was in good financial shape. He must have felt free as he piloted his car down Allen Parkway. He must have been looking forward to the next chapter.
