Lou Pai Net Worth | Celebrity Net Worth

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What is Lu Pie’s net worth?

Lu Pi is a Chinese-American businessman and mathematical genius who has a net worth of $200 million. Lou Pai amassed his net worth through his tenure as CEO of Enron Energy Services and Enron Accelerator, a venture capital division of Enron. During his time at the now defunct energy company, Pai was often referred to as the “invisible CEO.” Lou Pai is somewhat notorious for being fired several years before the company exploded and being forced to sell most of his Enron shares. He is one of the few former Enron executives who had huge assets.

early life

Lu Pi was born in Nanjing, China in 1946. He moved to the United States when he was a child. The family settled in Maryland where his father took a job as a professor of aeronautics at the University of Maryland, College Park. His sister Sue Pai Yang eventually became the first Asian-American to become a New Jersey Workers’ Compensation judge.

Lu earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Maryland. After graduation he went to work for the federal government.

In 1976, Lou married his first wife, Lanna. They would have two children before divorcing in 2000.

enron

In 1987 Lu Pai joined Enron, then a little-known regional energy supplier. At this time, future-CEO Jeffrey Skilling was working closely with Enron as an advisor. Skilling impressed Enron CEO Kenneth Lay and was hired in 1991.

Lou Pie and Jeff Skilling quickly bonded. Pai would soon be one of Skilling’s top lieutenants and was put in charge of several major Enron projects and subsidiaries. Most importantly, Lu ruled as CEO of EES (Enron Energy Services) from 1997 to 2001.

an affair leads to fate

In May 2001, Lou Pei abruptly stepped down from Enron. It is later revealed that he was using Enron’s corporate jet for private commuting, but the real reason for his departure may have been an extramarital affair with a stripper.

Despite being married during his time at Enron, Pai was known to spend an excessive amount of time during and after work at Houston-area strip clubs. Pai reportedly brought strippers back to Enron’s offices for late night parties.

His frequent trips to strip clubs ended in an affair with a married erotic dancer. The affair resulted in pregnancy. When Pai’s wife found out about the affair, they filed for divorce.

Filing a divorce would unintentionally be an extremely lucky turn of events for Pai.

Pai’s affinity for strippers and abusing corporate expense accounts is actually a big reason why he was able to walk away with such a huge fortune. After leaving the company in 2001, Pai went on to sell his entire stake of Enron stock to settle his divorce. He left the stock as the all-time peak of Enron’s market value. These share sales resulted in a windfall profit of $250 million to Pai. The money is still with them and after years when the company broke down, it was untouchable.

Because he sold all his shares before the company collapsed, Lu was shielded from charges that many other Enron executives faced in the years to come. He was eventually brought in on some insider trading charges. He settled those charges in July 2008, agreeing to an out-of-court settlement that reportedly included a $30 million restitution payment and a $1.5 million fine. In addition, he was barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company for five years (till 2013). He never served a moment of jail time.

life after enron

After leaving Texas in the early 2000s, Pai became the second largest landowner in Colorado when he purchased a 77,500-acre parcel named Taylor Ranch. He sold the property in 2005. Oh and he married the exotic dancer Melanie Favell, now known as Melanie Pie, after his divorce from his first wife.

Lou and Melanie Pie are still married today. Outside of Colorado they operate farms in Texas and Virginia. Both his Texas and Virginia farms are called Canaan Farms. They are particularly involved in the Olympic sport of dressage.