Sherron Watkins | |
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 Sherron Watkins in 2004 | |
| Born | (1959-08-28)August 28, 1959 (age 66) Tomball, Texas, U.S. |
| Education | University of Texas (BBA) |
| Occupation(s) | Accountant,businessperson |
| Awards | Time Person of the Year |
Sherron Watkins (born August 28, 1959) is an American former Vice President ofCorporate Development at theEnron Corporation. Watkins discovered and reported the 2001Enron scandal to Enron's then-CEOKenneth Lay.
Watkins was selected as one of three "Persons of the Year 2002" byTime magazine, alongside two otherwhistleblowers,Cynthia Cooper ofWorldCom andColeen Rowley of theFBI.
Watkins was born inTomball, Texas. Watkins holds aBachelor of Business Administration (with honors) from theUniversity of Texas, where she was a member ofAlpha Chi Omega sorority[1] and a Master in Professional Accounting, also from theMcCombs School of Business. Watkins is aCertified Public Accountant with retired status.
Watkins began her career in 1982 atArthur Andersen as an auditor. She spent eight years at Andersen in both theHouston andNew York offices.[2] She joined New York-basedMG Trade Finance in 1990 to manage their portfolio of commodity-backed finance assets until October 1993.[3] She joined Enron in 1993.[4]
In August 2001, Watkins alerted Lay of accounting irregularities in financial reports.[4] According toThe Guardian: "Enron began an inquiry, but it failed to use independent investigators and her claims were largely dismissed."[3] Watkins was later criticized for not reporting the fraud to government authorities and not speaking up publicly sooner about her concerns, as her memo did not reach the public until five months after it was written.[5] Watkins was represented by Houston attorneyPhilip H. Hilder.
Watkins was called to testify before committees of theU.S. House of Representatives andSenate at the beginning of 2002, primarily about her warnings to Enron's then-CEOKenneth Lay about accounting irregularities in thefinancial statements.[6]
In 2004, Watkins released a book about her experiences at Enron and the problems of US corporate culture,Power Failure: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron.[7]
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