Rediff Logo
Money
Line
Channels: Astrology | Broadband | Contests | E-cards | Money | Movies | Romance | Search | Women
Partner Channels: Auctions | Health | Home & Decor | IT Education | Jobs | Matrimonial | Travel
Line
Home > Money > Reuters > Report
December 29, 2001
1315 IST
Feedback  
  Money Matters

 -  'Investment
 -  Business Headlines
 -  Corporate Headlines
 -  Business Special
 -  Columns
 -  IPO Center
 -  Message Boards
 -  Mutual Funds
 -  Personal Finance
 -  Stocks
 -  Tutorials
 -  Search rediff

    
      



 Earn From
 Insurance


 Click Here to get
 minimum
 guaranteed 6%*
 returns on your
 premiums


  Call India
   Holiday Special
   Direct Service

 • Save upto 60% over
    AT&T, MCI
 • Rates 29.9¢/min
   Select Cities



   Prepaid Cards

 • Mumbai 19.9¢/min
 • Chennai 26¢/min
 • Other Cities



 India Abroad
Weekly Newspaper

  In-depth news

  Community Focus

  16 Page Magazine
For 4 free issues
Click here!

 
Reuters
 Search the Internet
         Tips
 Sites: Finance, Investment
E-Mail this report to a friend
Print this page Best Printed on  HP Laserjets

Enron employees stuck with deferred compensation

Enron Corp's spectacular collapse left many of its employees with shattered pension plans, but less publicised is up to $400 million the energy trader left owing about 400 of its senior staff.

Now those key employees are lining up with the cream of Corporate America to grab back as much of the money as possible in Enron's bankruptcy proceedings -- the biggest in US history.

On the unsecured creditors' committee is Michael P Moran, a retired attorney of the energy trading giant who represents a growing group of more than 100 former Enron employees. The committee represents Enron's biggest unsecured creditors.

Hasty organising skills won Moran and his group a place on the 15-member committee, a coup that could give them a chance of winning a portion of what they say Enron owes them.

While the group may win only a fraction of what they are owed, they are better off than those with company stock, who rank behind creditors in divvying up the assets of bankrupt companies in Chapter 11 reorganisation plans.

The stock, which peaked at $90.56 a share just 16 months ago, was trading at 57 cents on Friday. Enron's collapse dealt a blow to thousands of former and present company workers who held the stock in their retirement plans.

President George W Bush told reporters Friday he was "deeply concerned" about Enron employee losses, but stopped short of proposing remedies.

The creditors committee, composed mostly of giant banks like J P Morgan Chase and Citibank and bondholders like Oaktree Capital Management, was appointed December 12 by a US trustee of the bankruptcy court to negotiate with Enron during its bankruptcy.

"It was unsecured, but we knew that at the time," said Moran of deferred compensation payments he made over eight years. "But you don't expect Enron to go down the tubes."

Moran, 52, said he retired in August after 28 years with Enron, but never received payments under the plan. He estimated some 400 people participated in the plan, building up $250 million to $400 million in deferred compensation. The benefits were of the plan deferred taxes and building up a nest egg.

A spokesman for Enron declined to comment on the claims, citing pending litigation that some employees have undertaken against the company.

ALSO READ:
The Enron Saga

Back to top
(c) Copyright 2000 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Tell us what you think of this report

ADVERTISEMENT