# The gall of the Enron board. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 19, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070 "2005-07-19T00:41:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/1 "2005-07-19T00:41:18Z")
You get appointed to run a company that screwed thousands of workers out of hard earned money and you do this?? > [@](#): > > HOUSTON - The five-member Enron Corp. board of directors has voted for pay raises that boost salaries by as much as $1 million. > > In a filing with the New York bankruptcy court that oversaw the company’s reorganization last year, the board said it voted to increase its compensation retroactively to the beginning of June. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/enron\_board\_pay](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/enron_board_pay) Well fuck you. Let’s hope you and your jobs whither on the vine. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/2 "2005-07-19T00:44:40Z")
The story doesn’t make it clear who the request was filed with. I assume that whoever it was filed with has the power to laugh in their faces. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/3 "2005-07-19T00:45:21Z")
Damn right. I read that too, and was too far into WTF mode to write a decent rant. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/4 "2005-07-19T01:03:52Z")
I just saw _Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room_ yesterday (highly recommend it, btw) and I’m fuming, but I can’t work myself up over this. These board guys aren’t even Enron employees. It’s not like Skilling and Lay are trying to rip off their employees even more. Still, seems like these prospective raises are a little absurd. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Highwayman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Highwayman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Highwayman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/5 "2005-07-19T02:31:19Z")
Why not? Bush put in a pay increase for his job, so why shouldn’t the company who has given him the most money? Well, actually, they have been surpassed but it was well into the '04 campaign to before someone else eclipsed them. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/6 "2005-07-19T02:37:33Z")
> [@The Highwayman](#): > > Why not? Bush put in a pay increase for his job, so why shouldn’t the company who has given him the most money? > > Well, actually, they have been surpassed but it was well into the '04 campaign to before someone else eclipsed them. The Chimp in charge has done a lot of things…but giving himself a pay raise ain’t one of them. Back to OP. Doesn’t the money for their salaries come out of the funds designated to pay creditors? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/7 "2005-07-19T02:40:10Z")
> [@](#): > > The Houston-based energy company imploded in 2001 amid a massive financial and accounting scandal A scandal that continues to this day, it seems. All these guys should be ashamed of themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/8 "2005-07-19T17:24:02Z")
I forget where I read about this, but my comment to my coworker at the time was that you’ve got to have _huge_ balls to pull that one. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/9 "2005-07-19T17:34:15Z")
> [@The Highwayman](#): > > Why not? Bush put in a pay increase for his job, so why shouldn’t the company who has given him the most money? He did? When? ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/10 "2005-07-19T17:36:14Z")
Has Bush been stealing paper clips from the supply closet for home use again? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/11 "2005-07-19T17:43:14Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Doesn’t the money for their salaries come out of the funds designated to pay creditors? It comes out of whatever funds are there. The creditors are never going to get all their money back anyway. Do you believe the guys running the company now (who were chosen by the creditors) should be doing it pro bono? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/12 "2005-07-19T17:47:01Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > It comes out of whatever funds are there. The creditors are never going to get all their money back anyway. Do you believe the guys running the company now (who were chosen by the creditors) should be doing it pro bono? They weren’t doing it pro bono. They were being paid a good salary. But not good enough for them I guess. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/13 "2005-07-19T17:57:01Z")
Well, if they are hired to bring Enron back from the abyss, and they’re doing a good job, I don’t see why a raise isn’t in order, especially now that they’ve had time to really assess what it’s going to take. Don’t know if this is actually the case, though. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/14 "2005-07-19T17:59:17Z")
> [@](#): > > The board, none of them Enron employees, was chosen by creditors last year as part of the bankruptcy reorganization plan. > > According to Wednesday’s filing, the raises were needed because “the involvement of the directors has exceeded the levels anticipated,” the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. > > The board said the raises were temporary and would be revisited within six months Hmmm… they were hired to do specified work. That amount of work is exceeding expectations. They request a temporary pay increase. Evil bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/15 "2005-07-19T18:01:03Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Well fuck you. Let’s hope you and your jobs whither on the vine. The nice thing about making $1+ million a year is that if your job withers on the vine, you won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/16 "2005-07-19T18:07:39Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Hmmm… they were hired to do specified work. That amount of work is exceeding expectations. They request a temporary pay increase. > > Evil bastards. > [@](#): > > t raises the annual salary of Chairman John Ray III, a Wheaton, Ill., bankruptcy specialist, from $200,000 to $1.2 million. Maybe not evil but either the guy is greedy or isn’t the expert he thinks he is if the amount of time required for the work was that far off that he needs a 5x raise. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/17 "2005-07-19T18:59:17Z")
All I know about this story is what’s in the OP’s article, but I don’t see much there to be outraged about. Did any of you people actually read it: > [@](#): > > The board, none of them Enron employees, was chosen by creditors last year as part of the bankruptcy reorganization plan. > > According to Wednesday’s filing, the raises were needed because “the involvement of the directors has exceeded the levels anticipated,” the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. > > The board said the raises were temporary and would be revisited within six months. > > The Houston-based energy company imploded in 2001 amid a massive financial and accounting scandal. The scandal that brought down the company happened in 2001. These people were chosen as directors last year. They had nothing to do with the Enron scandal. They were brought in to help the bankrupt company. The article states that the five members of the board were getting paid $150,000 per year each, with the director getting $200,000. This is very small money for board of director roles. If they’ve been doing a good job so far, they probably deserve a raise. I don’t know whether a raise for all or any of them is appropriate at this time, or if the amounts are responsible. The article doesn’t mention what if anything these people have done with their year in charge, or the current status of the company. But just because the company is the dreaded “Enron” doesn’t automatically make anyone associated with it evil, greedy corporate fatcats. They might be, but why assume it unless we know for sure? ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/18 "2005-07-19T19:01:09Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > Maybe not evil but either the guy is greedy or isn’t the expert he thinks he is if the amount of time required for the work was that far off that he needs a 5x raise. …or he came in from the beginning with the expectation that if he could get the company back on it’s feet he would increase his salary to something more in line with what a boardmember of a large company normally commands. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/19 "2005-07-19T19:37:31Z")
> [@The Highwayman](#): > > Bush put in a pay increase for his job As noted, [incorrect](http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa012101a.htm). > [@](#): > > Effective Jan. 1, 2001, the salary of the president of the United States was increased to $390,000 per year including a $50,000 expense account. Any unused amount of the $50,000 expense account is returned to the Treasury. > > The increase came as part of the Treasury Department appropriations included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2001 and signed into law by President Clinton on Dec. 21, 2000. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Highwayman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Highwayman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Highwayman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070/20 "2005-07-19T22:21:08Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > He did? When? I’m sorry, I made a boo boo for which I was already corrected. Clinton argued for and Congress approved the pay raise in 1999 from 200,000 to a long over due 400,000 which went into effect under Bush in 2001. My bad. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gall-of-the-enron-board/313070.md?page=2)