Debt-ridden Enron auctions art

Debt-ridden Enron auctions art

Enron creditors have made 23,000 claims worth $400bn

Modern art and photographs from the walls of the Enron offices are to be auctioned to help ease the disgraced energy giant's debts.

Between $1.3m-$1.8m (£800,000-£1.15m) is expected to be raised by the sale of 10 works of art bought by the company.

But that will hardly dent the $400bn (£253bn) claimed by Enron's creditors.

The company paid $4m (£2.5m) for the artworks between 2000 and 2001, when the company collapsed after admitting it had inflated its profits.

They were chosen by the in-house art committee, which was headed by Lea Fastow, the wife of indicted former chief financial officer Andrew Fastow.

Among the works to go under the hammer are Claes Oldenburg's Soft Light Switches, a vinyl pop sculpture that looks like a melted light switch.

Souvenirs

The sale will be conducted by auctioneers Phillips de Pury and Luxembourg in New York on 15 and 16 May.

Although Enron's in-house art committee had a budget of $20m, they had only spent $4m by the time the company went bankrupt.

Enron souvenir-hunters have flocked to other auctions of the contents of Enron offices.

In September 2002, the famous giant neon E sign from the company's Houston headquarters sold for $44,000 (£28,000).

Television sets that retailed for $250 also sold for $800.

"Our creditors should be pleased," Enron spokeswoman Karen Denne said at the time.