Enron President Quits

Enron issued a statement in which Mr McMahon said: 'I believe that making room for new leadership before we announce the plan for the new company is best for Enron's stakeholders and for me.'

Mr McMahon still claims that he was ignorant of any alleged improper accounting manoeuvres and had warned Jeff Skilling, the former Enron chief executive, that the company 'was going down the tubes.'

Skilling remembered the conversation as being about McMahon's compensation.

In a related story, a New York bankruptcy judge has now approved the Enron bonus and retention plan that could cost the company up to $140m over the next three years.