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==Career at Enron==
==Career at Enron==
Mark had started in a finance position for Enron's predecessor company's pipeline businesses in 1982.<ref name=mack>Mack, Toni. [https://www.forbes.com/forbes/1998/0518/6110140a.html "High finance with a touch of theater"]. ''[[Forbes]]''. April 18, 1998.</ref> By 1986 she joined a small group within Enron developing [[cogeneration]] and independent power plants using natural gas.<ref name=mack /><ref>Batson, Neal. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zsM6AQAAIAAJ&q=%22working+almost+exclusively+on+project+financing+activities+associated+with+co-generation+plants%22&dq=%22working+almost+exclusively+on+project+financing+activities+associated+with+co-generation+plants%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=k2XcUv7BEdDyoAS37oLICQ&ved=0CEgQ6AEwAA ''Final report of Neal Batson, court-appointed examiner: in re--Enron Corp., et al, debtors'']. United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, 2003. p. 7.</ref> After a two-year stint working part-time for Enron while attending Harvard Business School, she returned to Houston and became head of the newly formed Enron Development Corp. in 1991,<ref name=nasdaq>[[Azurix|Azurix Corp]]. [http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/ipos/filing.ashx?filingid=862278 "Form S-1"]. Filed with ''[[Securities and Exchange Commission]]''. ''Nasdaq.com''. March 15, 1999.</ref> developing and building power assets in North America and internationally.<ref>Holton, Gyn A. [http://www.riskglossary.com/link/enron.htm "Enron Debacle"]. Contingency Analysis, 1996. ''RiskGlossary.com''.</ref>
Mark started in a finance position for Enron's predecessor company's pipeline businesses in 1982.<ref name=mack>Mack, Toni. [https://www.forbes.com/forbes/1998/0518/6110140a.html "High finance with a touch of theater"]. ''[[Forbes]]''. April 18, 1998.</ref> By 1986 she joined a small group within Enron developing [[cogeneration]] and independent power plants using natural gas.<ref name=mack /><ref>Batson, Neal. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zsM6AQAAIAAJ&q=%22working+almost+exclusively+on+project+financing+activities+associated+with+co-generation+plants%22&dq=%22working+almost+exclusively+on+project+financing+activities+associated+with+co-generation+plants%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=k2XcUv7BEdDyoAS37oLICQ&ved=0CEgQ6AEwAA ''Final report of Neal Batson, court-appointed examiner: in re--Enron Corp., et al, debtors'']. United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, 2003. p. 7.</ref> After a two-year stint working part-time for Enron while attending Harvard Business School, she returned to Houston and became head of the newly formed Enron Development Corp.


As Enron grew, Mark was responsible for its global power and pipeline assets outside of North America.<ref name=hawn /><ref name=vf /><ref name=mack /> Enron Development Corp. became [[Enron International]] in 1993,<ref>[[Dun & Bradstreet]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=eJi66H4hCYoC&pg=PA197 ''Financial Risk Management'']. Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2006. p. 197.</ref> and Mark became Enron International's CEO in 1996,<ref name=walton>Walton, Peter J. [https://books.google.com/books?id=asgwOxXmb1AC&pg=PA237 ''The Routledge Companion to Fair Value and Financial Reporting'']. Routledge, 2007. p. 237.</ref> developing and operating power and pipeline assets around the globe and greatly expanding Enron's global portfolio.<ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2000-04-30/rebecca-mark-is-paddling-as-fast-as-she-can "Rebecca Mark Is Paddling As Fast As She Can"]. ''[[BusinessWeek]]''. April 30, 2000.</ref> In 1998 and 1999, Mark was listed as one of ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]''{{'}}s "50 Most Powerful Women" in American business.<ref>Creswell, Julie and Dina Bass. [https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1998/10/12/249277/index.htm "Ranking The 50 Most Powerful Women: FORTUNE'S FIRST ANNUAL LOOK AT THE WOMEN WHO MOST INFLUENCE CORPORATE AMERICA"]. ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]''. October 12, 1998.</ref><ref>Folpe, Jane M., Deirdre P. Lanning, and Tyler Maroney. [https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/10/25/267818/ "FORTUNE's 50 Most Powerful Women"]. ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]''. October 25, 1999.</ref>
As Enron grew, Mark was responsible for its global power and pipeline assets outside of North America.<ref name=hawn /><ref name=vf /><ref name=mack /> Enron Development Corp. became [[Enron International]] in 1993,<ref>[[Dun & Bradstreet]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=eJi66H4hCYoC&pg=PA197 ''Financial Risk Management'']. Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2006. p. 197.</ref> and Mark became Enron International's CEO in 1996,<ref name=walton>Walton, Peter J. [https://books.google.com/books?id=asgwOxXmb1AC&pg=PA237 ''The Routledge Companion to Fair Value and Financial Reporting'']. Routledge, 2007. p. 237.</ref> developing and operating power and pipeline assets around the globe and greatly expanding Enron's global portfolio.<ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2000-04-30/rebecca-mark-is-paddling-as-fast-as-she-can "Rebecca Mark Is Paddling As Fast As She Can"]. ''[[BusinessWeek]]''. April 30, 2000.</ref>


Ideological conflict and rivalry within Enron arose between Mark, who specialized in hard assets and facilities, and fellow top executive [[Jeff Skilling]], who pushed for the company to develop and expand its [[Speculation|financial trading]] and [[Financial risk management|risk management]] sectors instead.<ref name=laundry>Thomas, Evan. [http://www.newsweek.com/enrons-dirty-laundry-141829 "Enron's Dirty Laundry"]. ''[[Newsweek]]''. March 10, 2002.</ref><ref name=smith>Smith, Rebecca and Aaron Lucchetti. [http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/fe/daily/20000829/fco29065.html "Rebecca Mark's Exit Leaves Enron's Azurix Treading Deep Water"]. Originally in: ''[[Wall Street Journal]]''. August 28, 2000.</ref> Skilling's goals eventually proved to be popular with Enron's Chairman and CEO [[Kenneth Lay]],<ref name=wapo /><ref name=laundry /> and with its board of directors.<ref name=clarke42>Clarke, Thomas. [https://books.google.com/books?id=B8v_hDJTDOYC&pg=PA42 ''International Corporate Governance: A Comparative Approach'']. [[Routledge]], 2007. p. 42.</ref> This goal adversely affected Mark's business sector, since Skilling wanted to sell off assets to fund his trading sector.<ref name=vf /> The board eventually saw Mark's [[Public utility|utility]] asset businesses as a drag on the company's return potential, and sought to further expand Enron's financial trading businesses while selling off its assets.<ref name=clarke42 /><ref>Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. [http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/investigations/hearings/the-role-of-the-board-of-directors-in-enrons-collapse "The Role of the Board of Directors in Enron's Collapse"]. Committee on Governmental Affairs; United States Senate. May 7, 2002.</ref><ref name=smith />
In the late 1990s, conflict surrounding the company’s ideologies occurred amongst senior leadership and Mark’s sector of the business dissolved.<ref name=laundry>Thomas, Evan. [http://www.newsweek.com/enrons-dirty-laundry-141829 "Enron's Dirty Laundry"]. ''[[Newsweek]]''. March 10, 2002.</ref><ref name=smith>Smith, Rebecca and Aaron Lucchetti. [http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/fe/daily/20000829/fco29065.html "Rebecca Mark's Exit Leaves Enron's Azurix Treading Deep Water"]. Originally in: ''[[Wall Street Journal]]''. August 28, 2000.</ref><ref name=vf /> The board eventually saw Mark's [[Public utility|utility]] asset businesses as a drag on the company's return potential, and sought to further expand Enron's financial trading businesses while selling off its assets.<ref name=clarke42 /><ref>Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. [http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/investigations/hearings/the-role-of-the-board-of-directors-in-enrons-collapse "The Role of the Board of Directors in Enron's Collapse"]. Committee on Governmental Affairs; United States Senate. May 7, 2002.</ref><ref name=smith />


In 1998, Mark led Enron to form an international water company, [[Azurix]], starting with the purchase of its main asset, British water utility [[Wessex Water]]. Azurix was controlled by Enron through Atlantic Water Trust.<ref name=mclean250 /> Azurix went public with an [[IPO]] in June 1999.<ref>[http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ipo-daily-report-azurixs-giant-ipo-stays-afloat "Azurix's giant IPO stays afloat"]. ''[[Market Watch]]''.
In 1998, Mark left Enron to form an international water company, [[Azurix]], starting with the purchase of its main asset, British water utility [[Wessex Water]].Azurix went public with an [[IPO]] in June 1999 but Enron remained a key stakeholder.<ref name=mclean250 /><ref>[http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ipo-daily-report-azurixs-giant-ipo-stays-afloat "Azurix's giant IPO stays afloat"]. ''[[Market Watch]]''.
June 10, 1999.</ref> According to [[Bethany McLean]] and Peter Elkind, authors of ''[[The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron]]'', with Azurix barely off the ground, Enron quickly "sucked out over $1 billion in cash while loading it up with debt."<ref name=mclean250>[[Bethany McLean|McLean, Bethany]] and Peter Elkind. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MVt5AAAAQBAJ&pg=PT228 ''The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron'']. Portfolio, 2003. p. 250.</ref> Additionally, British water regulators required the company to cut its rates by 12% starting in April 2000, and an upgrade was required of the utility's aging infrastructure, estimated at costing over a billion dollars.<ref>[[Bethany McLean|McLean, Bethany]] and Peter Elkind. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MVt5AAAAQBAJ&pg=PT233 ''The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron'']. Portfolio, 2003. p. 255</ref> By the end of 2000, Azurix had an operating profit of less than $100 million and was $2 billion in debt.<ref name=mclean257 /> In August 2000, after Azurix stock took a plunge following its earnings report,<ref name=mclean257>[[Bethany McLean|McLean, Bethany]] and Peter Elkind. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MVt5AAAAQBAJ&pg=PT234 ''The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron'']. Portfolio, 2003. p. 257.</ref> Mark resigned from Azurix and Enron when it became apparent she had no internal support from Enron or its board, both of which had switched to focusing on [[financial trading]] instead of industrial assets.<ref name=eichenwald362 /><ref name=smith /> Azurix assets, including Wessex, were eventually sold by Enron.<ref>Grigg, Neil S. [https://books.google.com/books?id=C_KenysXGuEC&pg=PA76 ''Water Finance: Public Responsibilities and Private Opportunities'']. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. p. 76.</ref>
June 10, 1999.</ref> According to [[Bethany McLean]] and Peter Elkind, authors of ''[[The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron]]'', with Azurix barely off the ground, Enron quickly "sucked out over $1 billion in cash while loading it up with debt."<ref name=mclean250>[[Bethany McLean|McLean, Bethany]] and Peter Elkind. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MVt5AAAAQBAJ&pg=PT228 ''The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron'']. Portfolio, 2003. p. 250.</ref> Additionally, British water regulators required the company to cut its rates by 12% starting in April 2000, and an upgrade was required of the utility's aging infrastructure, estimated at costing over a billion dollars.<ref>[[Bethany McLean|McLean, Bethany]] and Peter Elkind. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MVt5AAAAQBAJ&pg=PT233 ''The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron'']. Portfolio, 2003. p. 255</ref> By the end of 2000, Azurix had an operating profit of less than $100 million and was $2 billion in debt.<ref name=mclean257 /> In August 2000, after Azurix stock took a plunge following its earnings report,<ref name=mclean257>[[Bethany McLean|McLean, Bethany]] and Peter Elkind. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MVt5AAAAQBAJ&pg=PT234 ''The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron'']. Portfolio, 2003. p. 257.</ref> Mark resigned from Azurix and Enron when it became apparent she had no internal support from Enron or its board, both of which had switched to focusing on [[financial trading]] instead of industrial assets.<ref name=eichenwald362 /><ref name=smith /> Azurix assets, including Wessex, were eventually sold by Enron.<ref>Grigg, Neil S. [https://books.google.com/books?id=C_KenysXGuEC&pg=PA76 ''Water Finance: Public Responsibilities and Private Opportunities'']. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. p. 76.</ref>

In 1998 and 1999, Mark was listed as one of ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]''{{'}}s "50 Most Powerful Women" in American business.<ref>Creswell, Julie and Dina Bass. [https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1998/10/12/249277/index.htm "Ranking The 50 Most Powerful Women: FORTUNE'S FIRST ANNUAL LOOK AT THE WOMEN WHO MOST INFLUENCE CORPORATE AMERICA"]. ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]''. October 12, 1998.</ref><ref>Folpe, Jane M., Deirdre P. Lanning, and Tyler Maroney. [https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/10/25/267818/ "FORTUNE's 50 Most Powerful Women"]. ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]''. October 25, 1999.</ref>


==After Enron==
==After Enron==

Revision as of 00:06, 19 February 2022

Rebecca P. Mark-Jusbasche (born August 13, 1954, Kirksville, Missouri), known during her international business career as Rebecca Mark, is best known as the former head of Enron International, a subsidiary of Enron. She was also CEO of Azurix Corp., a publicly traded water services company originally developed by Enron International.[1] Mark was promoted to Vice Chairman of Enron in 1998 and was a member of its board of directors.[2] She resigned from Enron in August 2000.[3]

Since leaving Enron in 2000, she has been focused on water, energy technology, and agricultural projects. She is President of Resource Development Partners and Chairman of Dredgit Corporation.

Early life, education, and early career

Mark was born Rebecca Sue Pulliam in Kirksville, Missouri, and grew up on a farm.[4] She attended William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri for two years. She then transferred to Baylor University in Waco, Texas,[5] where she received a BA in psychology in 1976,[6] and a Masters Degree in International Management in 1977.[6]

Pulliam began her career in Houston, Texas, at First City National Bank.[5] She married Thomas Mark, and had twin sons; the couple later divorced.[5][7][8] In 1982, she joined an energy company called Continental Resources, which eventually became part of Enron.[5] In 1988, Mark entered Harvard Business School while working part-time for Enron, and received an MBA in 1990.[9][6]

Career at Enron

Mark started in a finance position for Enron's predecessor company's pipeline businesses in 1982.[10] By 1986 she joined a small group within Enron developing cogeneration and independent power plants using natural gas.[10][11] After a two-year stint working part-time for Enron while attending Harvard Business School, she returned to Houston and became head of the newly formed Enron Development Corp.

As Enron grew, Mark was responsible for its global power and pipeline assets outside of North America.[4][9][10] Enron Development Corp. became Enron International in 1993,[12] and Mark became Enron International's CEO in 1996,[13] developing and operating power and pipeline assets around the globe and greatly expanding Enron's global portfolio.[14]

In the late 1990s, conflict surrounding the company’s ideologies occurred amongst senior leadership and Mark’s sector of the business dissolved.[15][16][9] The board eventually saw Mark's utility asset businesses as a drag on the company's return potential, and sought to further expand Enron's financial trading businesses while selling off its assets.[17][18][16]

In 1998, Mark left Enron to form an international water company, Azurix, starting with the purchase of its main asset, British water utility Wessex Water.Azurix went public with an IPO in June 1999 but Enron remained a key stakeholder.[19][20] According to Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, authors of The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron, with Azurix barely off the ground, Enron quickly "sucked out over $1 billion in cash while loading it up with debt."[19] Additionally, British water regulators required the company to cut its rates by 12% starting in April 2000, and an upgrade was required of the utility's aging infrastructure, estimated at costing over a billion dollars.[21] By the end of 2000, Azurix had an operating profit of less than $100 million and was $2 billion in debt.[22] In August 2000, after Azurix stock took a plunge following its earnings report,[22] Mark resigned from Azurix and Enron when it became apparent she had no internal support from Enron or its board, both of which had switched to focusing on financial trading instead of industrial assets.[23][16] Azurix assets, including Wessex, were eventually sold by Enron.[24]

In 1998 and 1999, Mark was listed as one of Fortune's "50 Most Powerful Women" in American business.[25][26]

After Enron

Mark's exit from Enron in August 2000 was at a fortunate time, when Enron's stock was at its peak;[27] she sold her stock for $82.5 million[5] long before the company collapsed in 2001. She was never accused of wrongdoing in the ensuing series of scandals and prosecutions.[28][4]

Since 2000, she has been president of Resource Development Partners, which invests in water, energy technology, and agricultural projects, including Dredgit Corporation, which specializes in marine dredging and public and private de-watering.[29] She has been Chairman of Dredgit Corporation since 2013.[30][31][32]

She owns and operates cattle ranches in New Mexico and Colorado,[33] raising organic produce, grass-fed beef, and horses.[34] She serves on the board of the Hermann Park Conservancy in Houston.[35]

Personal life

Mark married Michael Jusbasche in October 1999, and hyphenated her name to Rebecca Mark-Jusbasche.[5] She has twin sons from her first marriage,[5] and after her second marriage in 1999, she adopted a two-year-old boy from Kazakhstan.[4]

References

  1. ^ Tan, Willie. Principles of Project and Infrastructure Finance. Routledge, 2007. p. 48.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference nasdaq was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Clarke, Thomas. International Corporate Governance: A Comparative Approach. Routledge, 2007. p. 324.
  4. ^ a b c d Hawn, Carleen. "The Women of Enron: A Separate Peace". Fast Company. September 2003.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Frey, Jennifer. "Water Over the Dam; Enron Strategist Rebecca Mark's Smartest Move May Have Been Getting Fired". Washington Post. April 17, 2002. Full text at: [1]
  6. ^ a b c BusinessWeek, 2000.
  7. ^ Bryce, Robert. Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron. PublicAffairs, 2004. p. 97.
  8. ^ Bryce, Robert. "Diva of the Deal". Houston Press. October 10, 2002.
  9. ^ a b c Brenner, Marie. "The Enron Wars". Vanity Fair. April 2002.
  10. ^ a b c Mack, Toni. "High finance with a touch of theater". Forbes. April 18, 1998.
  11. ^ Batson, Neal. Final report of Neal Batson, court-appointed examiner: in re--Enron Corp., et al, debtors. United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, 2003. p. 7.
  12. ^ Dun & Bradstreet. Financial Risk Management. Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2006. p. 197.
  13. ^ Walton, Peter J. The Routledge Companion to Fair Value and Financial Reporting. Routledge, 2007. p. 237.
  14. ^ "Rebecca Mark Is Paddling As Fast As She Can". BusinessWeek. April 30, 2000.
  15. ^ Thomas, Evan. "Enron's Dirty Laundry". Newsweek. March 10, 2002.
  16. ^ a b c Smith, Rebecca and Aaron Lucchetti. "Rebecca Mark's Exit Leaves Enron's Azurix Treading Deep Water". Originally in: Wall Street Journal. August 28, 2000.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference clarke42 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "The Role of the Board of Directors in Enron's Collapse". Committee on Governmental Affairs; United States Senate. May 7, 2002.
  19. ^ a b McLean, Bethany and Peter Elkind. The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron. Portfolio, 2003. p. 250.
  20. ^ "Azurix's giant IPO stays afloat". Market Watch. June 10, 1999.
  21. ^ McLean, Bethany and Peter Elkind. The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron. Portfolio, 2003. p. 255
  22. ^ a b McLean, Bethany and Peter Elkind. The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron. Portfolio, 2003. p. 257.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference eichenwald362 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Grigg, Neil S. Water Finance: Public Responsibilities and Private Opportunities. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. p. 76.
  25. ^ Creswell, Julie and Dina Bass. "Ranking The 50 Most Powerful Women: FORTUNE'S FIRST ANNUAL LOOK AT THE WOMEN WHO MOST INFLUENCE CORPORATE AMERICA". Fortune. October 12, 1998.
  26. ^ Folpe, Jane M., Deirdre P. Lanning, and Tyler Maroney. "FORTUNE's 50 Most Powerful Women". Fortune. October 25, 1999.
  27. ^ McLean, Bethany and Peter Elkind. The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron. Portfolio, 2003. p. 318.
  28. ^ Sparrow, Paul. Handbook of International Human Resource Management: Integrating People, Process, and Context. John Wiley & Sons, 2010. p. 476.
  29. ^ Water Innovation Summit 2014 – Participant Bios. Cleantech Group.
  30. ^ Mukul, Jyoti; Jog, Sanjay. "Seeking revival, Dabhol embraces a brand new plan". Business Standard. October 29, 2015.
  31. ^ "WILC: Women In Leadership Conference". Rice University, Jones Graduate School of Business. February 6, 2015.
  32. ^ "Rebecca Mark-Jusbasche". Dredgit.com. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  33. ^ "Telluride Foundation Names Five to Board of Directors, New Co-Chair". The Watch. February 18, 2009.
  34. ^ Rebecca Mark-Jusbasche. LinkedIn.
  35. ^ Hermann Park Conservancy – Board of Directors. HermannPark.org.
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