steve cooper voicemail - 2 / 14 / 2002 earlier today , steve cooper left the following voicemail for employees . since some employees do not have access to voicemail , we are providing the following transcript of that message .
voicemail transcript - steve cooper
february 14 , 2002
hi everybody , this is steve cooper . it is february 14 , so happy valentine ' s day to everybody . i just wanted to bring everybody up to speed on a number of items - i want to make sure that i keep you all in the loop so everyone has a pretty good sense of what ' s going on .
first of all , i want to thank a number of you for some very nice voice mails or emails . they ' ve been very supportive and i thank you for that . i do intend to get back to everybody personally - - i ' ve just been busy and jammed up this week , but i do want you to know i really appreciate it . it ' s been a little hectic this week , so i do apologize for the delay in getting back to you .
anyway , a couple of things have happened this week and i just want to make sure everybody understands what they are . number one is the result of the special investigative report . we ' re beginning to reshape the senior management team and as a result rick buy and rick causey ' s employment with the company has been terminated . to the extent that there are any additional changes , obviously i ' ll keep you up to speed .
we ' re also in the process of shrinking and reconstituting the board . six directors resigned earlier this week and their resignation is effective in 30 days . we ' re initiating a fairly aggressive search for some new directors , which will continue to replace some existing directors and at the end of the day the board will be reconstituted .
at the board meeting this week , i reiterated that it ' s my intent in working with all of you to present some restructuring proposals to the creditor ' s committee by the second quarter , and nothing that i see today leads me conclude that we can ' t make that schedule . i continue to believe that there is a very nice re - organizable platform here , so that the company can move forward .
there was some bad news with respect to enron stock . as far as i can tell , the claims base here - that is bank debt , bond holder debt and other unsecured creditors debt - is going to overwhelm the reorganized value of whatever platform that we move forward . as a result , it ' s not probable that there will any residual value for existing shareholders . that ' s not good news . it ' s an unfortunate result of this problem , and i wish it was different . but i don ' t want you to be misled and i don ' t want any of you to believe that there is value there , because i don ' t think there will be . in particular i don ' t want you to continue to invest your earnings in enron stock without being aware of , at least in my view , shareholder value at the end of the day .
the media sometimes interprets the elimination of existing shareholder value as a sign that this is going to be a liquidation . i don ' t believe that will be the case here . i think we have a tough road to hoe . i think that it is going to require us to rebuild credibility in this company and its management team . none the less , i do believe that we are going to have a reorganization here , and i ' m absolutely committed and dedicated to making that happen .
a couple of other things that i want you to be aware of : as soon as the dust settles around the reformation of the management team , we will get out a memo as to who the new management team will be and what their roles , responsibilities are .
we are continuing to shape and push forward with the creditors committee a retention and severance program , which i know is important to all of you . as that gets cemented , i will provide you with additional updates .
and another thing , i ' ve asked a number of our colleagues to plan in early to mid - march , an employee meeting at one of these local hotels . it will , more likely than not , be in the evening and it can go as late as you want it to go . what i thought we would do is give everybody , in a plain vanilla way , a short presentation as to where we are going and how we intend to get there . then we will have a giant question and answer session , so that if any of you have concerns , issues , problems , or upsets , we can get it all out on the table and figure out collectively the best way to deal with these things .
that ' s where we stand as of valentine ' s day . once again , i would like to thank all of those of you who have given me some real nice emails and voicemails for your support . again , i apologize that i haven ' t been able to get back to you as quickly as i would like , but i promise you i will and i hope everybody has a great day .
if you have any questions or issues , send me an email , give me a buzz or drop by my office . i would be more than happy to have a chat with you . happy valentine ' s day . thanks again so much and i ' ll give you the next update as soon as practicably possible .
steve cooper voicemail - 2 / 14 / 2002
earlier today , steve cooper left the following voicemail for employees . since some employees do not have access to voicemail , we are providing the following transcript of that message .
voicemail transcript - steve cooper
february 14 , 2002
hi everybody , this is steve cooper . it is february 14 , so happy valentine ' s day to everybody . i just wanted to bring everybody up to speed on a number of items - i want to make sure that i keep you all in the loop so everyone has a pretty good sense of what ' s going on .
first of all , i want to thank a number of you for some very nice voice mails or emails . they ' ve been very supportive and i thank you for that . i do intend to get back to everybody personally - - i ' ve just been busy and jammed up this week , but i do want you to know i really appreciate it . it ' s been a little hectic this week , so i do apologize for the delay in getting back to you .
anyway , a couple of things have happened this week and i just want to make sure everybody understands what they are . number one is the result of the special investigative report . we ' re beginning to reshape the senior management team and as a result rick buy and rick causey ' s employment with the company has been terminated . to the extent that there are any additional changes , obviously i ' ll keep you up to speed .
we ' re also in the process of shrinking and reconstituting the board . six directors resigned earlier this week and their resignation is effective in 30 days . we ' re initiating a fairly aggressive search for some new directors , which will continue to replace some existing directors and at the end of the day the board will be reconstituted .
at the board meeting this week , i reiterated that it ' s my intent in working with all of you to present some restructuring proposals to the creditor ' s committee by the second quarter , and nothing that i see today leads me conclude that we can ' t make that schedule . i continue to believe that there is a very nice re - organizable platform here , so that the company can move forward .
there was some bad news with respect to enron stock . as far as i can tell , the claims base here - that is bank debt , bond holder debt and other unsecured creditors debt - is going to overwhelm the reorganized value of whatever platform that we move forward . as a result , it ' s not probable that there will any residual value for existing shareholders . that ' s not good news . it ' s an unfortunate result of this problem , and i wish it was different . but i don ' t want you to be misled and i don ' t want any of you to believe that there is value there , because i don ' t think there will be . in particular i don ' t want you to continue to invest your earnings in enron stock without being aware of , at least in my view , shareholder value at the end of the day .
the media sometimes interprets the elimination of existing shareholder value as a sign that this is going to be a liquidation . i don ' t believe that will be the case here . i think we have a tough road to hoe . i think that it is going to require us to rebuild credibility in this company and its management team . none the less , i do believe that we are going to have a reorganization here , and i ' m absolutely committed and dedicated to making that happen .
a couple of other things that i want you to be aware of : as soon as the dust settles around the reformation of the management team , we will get out a memo as to who the new management team will be and what their roles , responsibilities are .
we are continuing to shape and push forward with the creditors committee a retention and severance program , which i know is important to all of you . as that gets cemented , i will provide you with additional updates .
and another thing , i ' ve asked a number of our colleagues to plan in early to mid - march , an employee meeting at one of these local hotels . it will , more likely than not , be in the evening and it can go as late as you want it to go . what i thought we would do is give everybody , in a plain vanilla way , a short presentation as to where we are going and how we intend to get there . then we will have a giant question and answer session , so that if any of you have concerns , issues , problems , or upsets , we can get it all out on the table and figure out collectively the best way to deal with these things .
that ' s where we stand as of valentine ' s day . once again , i would like to thank all of those of you who have given me some real nice emails and voicemails for your support . again , i apologize that i haven ' t been able to get back to you as quickly as i would like , but i promise you i will and i hope everybody has a great day .
if you have any questions or issues , send me an email , give me a buzz or drop by my office . i would be more than happy to have a chat with you . happy valentine ' s day . thanks again so much and i ' ll give you the next update as soon as practicably possible .