Jeffrey Skilling

Jeffrey Keith Skilling (born November 25, 1953) is an American businessman who in 2006 was convicted of federal felony charges relating to the Enron scandal. Skilling, who was CEO of Enron during the company's collapse, was eventually sentenced to 24 years in prison, of which he served 12 after multiple appeals.

Skilling was indicted on 35 counts of crimes related to the Enron scandal. In 2006 he was found guilty of conspiracy, insider trading, making false statements, and securities fraud. He was sentenced to 24 years in prison and fined $45 million.

The US Supreme Court heard arguments in the appeal of the case in 2010, vacated part of Skilling's conviction, and transferred the case back to the lower court for resentencing.

In 2011, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the verdict would have been the same despite the legal issues being discussed, and Skilling's conviction was confirmed; however, the court ruled Skilling should be resentenced. Skilling appealed this new decision to the Supreme Court, but the appeal was denied.

In 2013, following a further appeal, and earlier accusations that prosecutors had concealed evidence from Skilling's lawyers prior to his trial, the United States Department of Justice reached a deal with Skilling, which resulted in ten years being cut from his sentence, reducing it to 14 years. He was moved to a halfway house in 2018 and released from custody in 2019, after serving 12 years.

Jeffrey Keith Skilling was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on November 25, 1953, the second of four children of Betty (née Clarke) and Thomas Ethelbert Skilling, Jr. His father was a sales manager for an Illinois valve company. His older brother, Tom Skilling, later became chief meteorologist at WGN-TV in Chicago. Skilling grew up between New Jersey and Aurora, Illinois. When he was 16 years old, he worked at WLXT-TV (channel 60), a UHF television station in Aurora. He graduated from West Aurora High School and received a full scholarship to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.

Skilling initially studied engineering before changing to business. After graduating in 1975, he went to work as a corporate planner for First City Bancorporation of Houston, Texas. He quit by 1977 to attend Harvard Business School. According to Skilling, during his admissions interview for Harvard Business School, he was asked if he was smart, to which he replied, "I'm fucking smart." This apparently so impressed the interviewer that it secured his place at the school. He earned his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1979, graduating in the top 5% of his class as a Baker Scholar.

After graduation, Skilling became a consultant at McKinsey & Company in the energy and chemical consulting practices. He eventually became one of the youngest partners in the history of McKinsey.