Former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Mr Skilling will take the witness stand today at his trial to try to face down more than two dozen criminal charges.
Mr Skilling is charged with 28 counts of conspiracy, fraud and insider trading, while former chairman Kenneth Lay, his co-defendant at the trial, faces six charges of conspiracy and fraud.
Mr Skilling stands accused of lying to analysts and investors to hide the financial decay at the company, and of insider trading for selling Enron stock that earned him nearly $63 million.
Mr Skilling and Mr Lay will both testify on their own behalf, and both are expected to say Enron was a healthy, vibrant company that collapsed only because nervous investors and creditors abandoned it after it came to light chief financial Officer Andrew Fastow had skimmed millions from the company.
Mr Skilling's testimony is expected to last about a day, but prosecutors from the Enron Task Force are likely to cross examine him for several days.
Among the key testimony so far in the trial was that of Fastow, who struck a plea deal to co-operate with prosecutors in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence.
He admitted to stealing from Enron through the partnerships he ran that bought poorly performing company assets. Those partnerships were used to hide Enron debt and pump up profit, all with the consent of senior executives, including Mr Skilling, Fastow testified last month.