The University of California has been named lead plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit against 29 senior executives of Enron Corporation and its accounting firm, Arthur Andersen LLP. The University suffered one of the largest investment losses of any single entity as a result of the collapse of the energy-trading company last November.
As lead plaintiff, the University will be responsible for managing the lawsuit on behalf of the entire class, which includes several large public pension funds as well as individual investors and Enron employees.
“The advantage of being the lead plaintiff is that we can be sure that the case is being litigated vigorously and that we’re getting the largest possible recovery, not only for the University, but for all the members of the class,” says University Counsel Christopher Patti.
Between May 2000 and November 2001, the University bought and sold a total of 2.2 million Enron shares and lost $145 million. But despite these huge losses, UC Treasurer David Russ says that University retirees will not be affected as a result of the Enron collapse.
The losses represent just 0.3 percent of the pension fund, currently valued at $54 billion. In fact, Russ points out, during the Enron collapse UC’s retirement portfolio actually grew by $1.9 billion.
The California Monthly is a publication of the California Alumni Association
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