The Elephant in the Room

In yesterday's Chicago Tribune there was a story about Tom Skilling (if you'd like to view it without signing up with the Tribune, go to the website Trent recommends in the comment for a temporary password. If not, here's a much shorter AP version of the story), the brother of ex-Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling. In it he talks about how difficult the criminal fraud and conspiracy trial has been for the Skilling family. Tom Skilling, it turns out, is the chief meteorologist at WGN-Ch. 9 news, which is owned by the Tribune Co., and he edits the Tribune's daily weather page. The article is entirely transparent with these facts, and I suspect this is the entire reason for the story in the first place (i.e. Other people in Chicago already knew that Tom Skilling is Jeffrey Skilling's brother. I think the paper was trying to get this out in the open, in the interest of transparency).

My problem with the story is that it never answers the one question I really want the answer to: Did any of the Skilling family make (or lose) money just before the Enron collapse? I was disappointed because I'm curious and I want to know, but also because otherwise the story is a puff piece with Tom Skilling saying little more than that he blames the indictment and trial for the failing health of his octogenarian parents and that he loves and supports his brother. Nothing I didn't expect there. It also does the opposite of what I suspect it was supposed to do. Because this reporter soft-balled Tom Skilling and didn't ask the tough question (and an editor apparently ran the piece on the front page without insisting the question be asked), I now wonder about the objectivity of the paper in its coverage of the trial. Needless to say, I sent my first letter to the editor. I'm a paying subscriber, and it's irritating that I read the entirety of a somewhat lengthy story and didn't get the answer to the obvious question.

In the interest of transparency (for all six of my readers), I'll tell you that I have a bias, and that last night I watched the documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, which I highly recommend. One of the striking anecdotes in the film occurs in a conference call between Skilling and analysts. One financial analyst asks why Enron can't release a balance sheet or cash flow statement with their earnings like all other companies. It's amazing to hear Skilling sputter for a few seconds and then just call the guy an asshole before ending the call.