Is Enron back? If it's a joke, some former employees aren't laughing
Enron, the Houston-based energy company that exemplified the worst in corporate fraud and greed in America after it went bankrupt in 2001, is coming back
HOUSTON — An elaborate parody appears to be behind an effort to resurrect Enron, the Houston-based energy company that exemplified the worst in American corporate fraud and greed after it went bankrupt in 2001.
If its return is comedic, some former employees who lost everything in Enron’s collapse aren’t laughing.
“It’s a pretty sick joke and it disparages the people that did work there. And why would you want to even bring it back up again?” said former Enron employee Diana Peters, who represented workers in the company’s bankruptcy proceedings.
Here’s what to know about the history of Enron and the purported effort to bring it back.
Once the nation’s seventh-largest company, Enron filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 2, 2001, after years of accounting tricks could no longer hide billions of dollars in debt or make failing ventures appear profitable. The energy company's collapse put more than 5,000 people out of work and wiped out more than $2 billion in employee pensions. Its aftershocks were felt throughout the energy sector.
Twenty-four Enron executives, including former CEO Jeffrey Skilling, were convicted for their roles in the fraud. Enron founder Ken Lay’s convictions were vacated after he died of heart disease following his 2006 trial.
On Monday — the 23rd anniversary of the bankruptcy filing — a company representing itself as Enron announced in a news release it was relaunching as a “company dedicated to solving the global energy crisis.” It also posted a video on social media, advertised on at least one Houston billboard and a took out a full-page ad in
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