An ‘E’ Not So Hot as It Once Was

The value of Enron Corp.’s signature “tilted E” has dropped like the company’s stock did a year ago, a possible sign that fascination with the rubble of the fallen energy trader is fading.

At a second auction of equipment and other Enron-related items held to raise money for the company’s creditors, a Houston chemist paid $10,500 for one of two oft-televised stainless steel logos that once stood outside Enron’s downtown offices.

Fred Massey said he bought the infamous letter as a Christmas present for his wife. At the auction, Massey told a crowd of reporters his name was Bobby Shackouls, a friend who is president of energy firm Burlington Resources. Massey later said he lied to hide his high-profile purchase from his wife until he could present her with the gift.

Burlington spokesman James Bartlett confirmed that Massey and Shackouls know each other and that Shackouls was not the buyer.

DoveBid, the business auction company conducting the sale, declined to identify the buyer, citing privacy policies.

“I apologize,” Massey said. “I was trying to keep this as a secret from my wife.”

Massey said he and his wife might convert the “E” into a coffee table.

This week’s three-day auction comes one year after Enron filed for bankruptcy protection.

A similar two-day sale in September netted $3.3 million, including $44,000 from the auction of a 5-by-5-foot stainless steel tilted-E logo sign that used to be mounted outside one of Enron’s satellite offices.

Other, more mundane items also went for more reasonable prices than in September. Two 20-inch televisions were auctioned off for $150 each, when a similar set went for $900 this fall.

On Thursday, the auction will wrap up with the sale of a third and final stainless steel logo as well as a colorful lighted rotating model dubbed the “Disco E.”

A final auction planned for January or February will feature furniture and fixtures, such as conference tables and new carpet that was never installed.