Rebecca Mark-Jusbasche

Rebecca Mark-Jusbasche was famous as the head of the Enron International division of Enron. She later was promoted to Vice-Chairman of Enron, but resigned from the company in 2000 after a series of failed infrastructure investments that eventually cost it more than $2 billion [ [http://bodurtha.georgetown.edu/enron/Rebecca%20Mark's%20Exit%20Leaves%20Azurix%20Treading%20Deep%20Water.htm Rebecca Mark's Exit Leaves Azurix Treading Deep Water ] ] .

Early life

Mark was born Rebecca Sue Pulliam in Kirksville, Missouri, and grew up on a farm. [ [http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/74/enron_mark.html The Women of Enron : A Separate Peace | Fast Company ] ] She attended William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri until she transferred to Baylor University, a Baptist school in Waco, Texas. She received a BA in psychology from Baylor in 1976 but did not find an internship working with juvenile deliquents fulfilling. She went back to school and got an MA in international management, also from Baylor, in 1977. She moved to Houston, Texas where she got a job in banking and married Thomas Mark, also a Baylor grad. The two had identical twin boys, Robert Wellington Mark and Thomas Jared Mark. After a divorce, Mark attended Harvard Business School with the twins in tow. Mark worked for First City National Bank in Houston, and then an energy company called Continental Resources, which through a series of mergers and acquisitions became part of Enron. First City Bancorporation of Texas failed twice during the collapse of the Energy markets during the Reagan era. The second time during the administration of George H. W. Bush after several questionable politicially related loans, one to Saddam Hussein. The Vice Chairman of FCBOT, Frank Cihak, was convicted of fraud and money laundering. Both Mark and Jeff Skilling came from First City and First City was one of the lead banks lending to ENRON. Former ENRON chairman, Sam Segnar, was a director of First City Bancorp.

At Enron

At Enron, Mark became head of Enron Development in 1991, and Enron International in 1996. While head of Enron Development and Enron International, Mark made several deals which turned out to be expensive failures. Enron spent $95 million for a 50% share of a barge-mounted power plant off Puerto Plata on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately, the prevailing winds blew soot from the plant onto a local hotel, which sued, and blew garbage floating in the harbor into the intake valves of the plant, making operation difficult. Enron lost almost all of its investment. Other Enron personnel criticized Mark's use of chartered jets and other outlays that drove up Enron's expenses. Mark and other executives were paid in accordance with the estimated value of a deal at the time the deal was done, and consequently faced no incentive to make a profitable deal.

Enron would suffer even greater losses from another one of Mark's ventures: the Dabhol power plant in India. Enron and the Maharashtra State Electricity Board of India agreed in December 1993 to build a power plant capable of producing 2,015 MW of power. The cost was estimated at $2.8 billion, and the MSEB guaranteed to buy 90% of the power produced by the plant. Problems with financing immediately arose, and in 1995, BJP, the main national opposition party opposed the plant after winning state elections in Maharashtra. Allegations of bribery [ [http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2002/02/09/stories/2002020902160100.htm The Hindu Business Line : Where is `Mark the shark?' ] ] and human-rights abuses (never proven) against Enron led to riots and the cancellation of the plant in August 1995. Mark and Enron re-negotiated with the local government and struck a new bargain in February, 1996, but the project fell further behind schedule and costs soared to $3 billion. Eventually, after Mark had left Enron International, the plant was shut down when the MSEB proved unable to afford the power. Enron spent $900m on Dabhol and lost most of it. (Four years after Enron's bankruptcy, in 2005, an Indian company was set up to [http://www.rgppl.com/aboutus.htm revive] the moribund Dahbol facility.

In 1998, Mark led Enron into the purchase of British water utility Wessex Water, paying 30% more than the market capitalisation. The company was run from a subsidiary, Azurix which was controlled by Enron through a Special Purpose Entity called Atlantic Water Trust [http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/3002770/2/c_2984294] [http://www.secinfo.com/dsvRu.5Yg.htm#4hk] . The investment proved a disaster for Enron, as deregulation brought a rapid decrease in water prices, and the junk debt financing of the acquisition was very costly. Wessex was eventually sold at a loss of $1.1 billion. [http://www.ytlcommunity.com/commnews/shownews.asp?newsid=5092] In August 2000 Mark resigned from Enron, this marked the end of a long rivalry with CEO Jeff Skilling, and a short lived victory for his strategic vision of the firm. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2000/08/30/cnwes30.xml]

After Enron

Mark, now Rebecca Mark-Jusbasche after her marriage to Michael Jusbasche in October 1999, left Enron at a fortunate time, selling her stock for $80 million before the company collapsed in 2001. Mark was never accused of wrongdoing in the ensuing series of scandals and prosecutions, but did pay five million dollars as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by Enron stockholders. [ [http://bodurtha.georgetown.edu/enron/Enron%20Strategist%20Rebecca%20Mark's%20Smartest%20Move%20May%20Have%20Been%20Getting%20Fired.htm Enron Strategist Rebecca Mark's Smartest Move May Have Been Getting Fired ] ]

Today, Mark sits on the Board of a California based company called WaterHealth International [ [http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/050425/25eewhere.htm Update: Rebecca Mark-Jusbasche - US News and World Report ] ] , owned by Dow Chemical, Johnson & Johnson, and others. She has twins enrolled in college. After her remarriage to Michael Jusbasche, the two adopted a two year old boy from Kazakhstan. She also owns and operates cattle ranches in Watrous, New Mexico and Colorado.

References

*Eichenwald, Kurt. "Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story". 2005, Broadway, 768 pages. A history of Enron.
*McLean, Bethany, and Peter Elkind. "The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron". 2003, Penguin, 464 pages.

ee also

*Azurix
*Enron
*Enron International