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Powers quits Enron board
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February 14, 2002: 4:57 p.m. ET
Director who led internal investigation resigns from the company.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The director who led an internal investigation that was highly critical of Enron Corp.'s senior management has resigned after only three months in the position, as he indicated he would during congressional testimony a few days ago.
William Powers, Jr., dean of the University of Texas School of Law, said in a statement that his primary responsibility was to the school and that he would remain available to testify on the Enron situation if his testimony was sought.
Powers was a member of Enron's board for only 3-1/2 months. He joined Enron's board in October specifically to lead a three-member panel in a fact-finding investigation concerning partnerships at Enron that investigators say were used to hide debts. It also said several Enron employees were enriched by tens of millions of dollars by the partnerships, among them former CFO Andrew Fastow, who the report says made $30 million from the deals.
The panel also criticized former CEO Kenneth Lay, who it said didn't appear to direct the directors' attention "or his own" to overseeing the partnerships. And it criticized outside counsel Vinson & Elkins and the company's accounting firm, Arthur Andersen, for failing to fulfill their professional responsibilities.
The report, which was released earlier this month, said Enron's management "spent considerable time and effort working to say" as little as possible to shareholders about the company's controversial partnerships.
Earlier Thursday, Enron's board fired Chief Accounting Officer Richard Causey and Chief Risk Officer Richard Buy in light of Powers' report. 
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