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Encyclopedia > Enron Corporation
Enron Corporation
Enron logo, designed by Paul Rand
Type Public
Founded Omaha, Nebraska, 1985
Location Houston, Texas, U.S.
Key people Kenneth Lay, Founder
Stephen F. Cooper, Interim CEO and CRO
John J. Ray, III, Chairman
Industry Energy
Employees 9,500 as of 2006 (including Prisma and PGE subsidiaries)
Website www.enron.com

Enron Corporation was an energy company based in Houston, Texas. Prior to its bankruptcy in late 2001, Enron employed around 21,000 people and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, and communications companies, with claimed revenues of $101 billion in 2000. Fortune magazine named Enron "America's Most Innovative Company" for six consecutive years. It became most famous at the end of 2001 when it was revealed that it was sustained mostly by institutionalized, systematic, and well-planned accounting fraud. Its European operations filed for bankruptcy on November 30, 2001, and it sought Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. two days later, on December 2. It still exists, operating a handful of key assets, and making preparations for the sale or spin off of remaining businesses. Enron emerged from bankruptcy in November of 2004 after one of the biggest and most complex cases in US history. It has since entered the zeitgeist as a symbol of willful corporate fraud and corruption. Enron Logo Designed By Paul Rand This is a copyrighted and/or trademarked logo. ... A public company is a company owned by the public rather than by a relatively few individuals. ... For other uses, see Omaha (disambiguation). ... This article is about the year. ... Nickname: Space City Official website: www. ... Motto: E pluribus unum (1789 to 1956) (Latin: Out of Many, One) In God We Trust (1956 to present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at federal level; English de facto Government • President • Vice President Federal republic George... Kenneth Lee Lay (born April 15, 1942) is an American businessman and former CEO of Enron Corporation. ... Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... This page as shown in the aol 9. ... Nickname: Space City Official website: www. ... Official language(s) None. ... Notice of closure stuck on the door of a computer store the day after its parent company, Granville Technology Group Ltd, declared bankruptcy (strictly, administration - see text) in the UK. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... BlackBerry 7100t Telecommunications is the communication of information over a distance. ... Categories: Magazines stubs | Time Warner subsidiaries | Business magazines ... Accounting scandals, or corporate accounting scandals are political and business scandals which arise with the disclosure of misdeeds by trusted executives of large public corporations. ... Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days remaining, as the final day of November. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code governs the process of reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. ... December 2 is the 336th day (337th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Look up Zeitgeist in Wiktionary, the free dictionary (help· info) is originally a German expression that means the spirit (Geist) of the time (Zeit). It denotes the intellectual and cultural climate of an era. ...

Contents


Growth

Enron, founded in 1930 as Northern Natural Gas Company, was a consortium of Northern American Power and Light Company, Lone Star Gas Company, and United Lights and Railways Corporation. The consortium ownership was gradually dissolved between 1941 and 1947 through a public stock offering. In 1979, Northern Natural Gas was restructured under the ownership of a new holding company, InterNorth Inc., which replaced Northern Natural Gas on the New York Stock Exchange. Enron Corporation is an energy company based in Houston, Texas. ...


In 1985, InterNorth acquired competitor Houston Natural Gas Company in a transaction engineered by HNG CEO Kenneth Lay. Although InterNorth was the purchaser, Lay emerged as CEO and promptly renamed InterNorth as Enron Corporation, with headquarters in Houston rather than InterNorth/Northern Natural Gas's base in Omaha. Initially, the company was to be named Enteron, chosen for the positive connotations of "enter" and "on", but when it was pointed out that the term meant "intestine", it was quickly shortened. InterNorth Inc. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Kenneth Lee Lay (born April 15, 1942) is an American businessman and former CEO of Enron Corporation. ... The intestine is the portion of the alimentary canal extending from the stomach to the anus and, in humans and other mammals, consists of two segments, the small intestine and the large intestine. ...


Enron was originally involved in the transmission and distribution of electricity and gas throughout the United States and the development, construction, and operation of power plants, pipelines, and other infrastructure worldwide. In 1998 it moved into the water sector, creating the Azurix Corporation, which it part-floated on the NYSE in June 1999. Azurix failed to break into the water utility market, with its only major concession, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a large-scale money loser. In April 2001 Enron announced its intention to break up Azurix and sell its assets. A power station (also power plant) is a facility for the generation of electric power. ... Categories: Stub | Water | Sewerage | Industries ... Azurix Corp. ... Buenos Aires (English: Fair Winds, originally Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos Aires, City of the Holy Trinity and Port of Saint Mary of the Fair Winds) is the capital of Argentina and its largest city and port, as well as... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Events: April 1: An EP-3E United States Navy plane collides with a Chinese Peoples Liberation Army fighter jet. ...


Enron grew wealthy, it claimed, through its pioneering marketing and promotion of power and communications bandwidth commodities and related derivatives as tradable financial instruments, including exotic items such as weather derivatives. As a result, Enron was named "America's Most Innovative Company" by Fortune magazine for six consecutive years, from 1996 to 2001. It was on the Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America" list in 2000, and was legendary even among the elite workers of the financial world for the opulence of its offices. However, as was later discovered, many of these recorded profits were inflated or even wholly fraudulent and totally nonexistent, by the use of sophisticated and arcane financial transactions between Enron and related companies formed to take unprofitable entities off the company's books. It has been suggested that Product marketing be merged into this article or section. ... Promotion is one of the four aspects of marketing. ... Communication is the process of exchanging information, usually via a common protocol. ... Bandwidth is a measure of frequency range, measured in hertz, of a function of a frequency variable. ... The word commodity has a different meaning in business than in Marxian political economy. ... A derivative is a financial contract whose payoffs over time are derived from the performance of assets (such as commodities, shares or bonds), interest rates, exchange rates, or indices (such as a stock market index, consumer price index (CPI) or an index of weather conditions). ... Financial instruments package financial capital in readily tradeable forms - they do not exist outside the context of the financial markets. ... Weather derivatives are financial instruments that can be used by organisations or individuals as part of a risk management strategy to reduce risk associated with adverse or unexpected weather conditions. ... Categories: Magazines stubs | Time Warner subsidiaries | Business magazines ...


Products

Enron traded more than 800 different products including the following.

  • Advertising Risk Management
  • Bandwidth*
  • Broadband Services
  • Building Services
  • Credit Risk Management*
  • Crude Oil & Products*
  • Electricity / Power
  • Emission Allowances*
  • Energy Outsourcing
  • Energy Asset Management
  • Enron Intelligent Network
  • Facility Management
  • Forest Products*
  • Freight
  • Media Risk Management
  • Metals* (also see Steel)
  • Natural Powers of Gas*
  • Lumber*
  • Oil & LNG Transportation
  • Petrochemicals*
  • Plastics*
  • Power*
  • Principal Investments
  • Pulp & Paper*
  • Risk Management for Commodities
  • Shipping / Freight
  • Steel*
  • Streaming Media
  • Water & Wastewater
  • Weather Risk Management*
  • Wind Energy

(Items with a (*) were traded on EnronOnline) Plastic covers a range of synthetic or semisynthetic polymerization products. ... The front page of EnronOnline EnronOnline was considered by many to be the first very successful e-commerce website. ...


It was also an extensive futures trader, including sugar, coffee, grains, hog, and other meat futures. In finance, a futures contract is a standardized contract, traded on a futures exchange, to buy or sell a certain underlying instrument at a certain date in the future, at a pre-set price. ...


EnronOnline

Main article: EnronOnline

In November 1999, Enron launched EnronOnline. EnronOnline was the first web-based transaction system that allowed buyers and sellers to buy, sell, and trade commodity products globally. It only allowed users to do business with Enron, which was seen as a particular weakness. Due to the giant cash needs of Enron Online and the company wasting money in other areas such as broadband, Azurix, Enron Energy Services, and shutting down the original pipeline service which generated cash flow, Enron virtually drained itself of cash. The Enron Global Finance department had to keep working up more and more creative financing moves to keep the company up and running. The front page of EnronOnline EnronOnline was considered by many to be the first very successful e-commerce website. ... Enron Energy Services (EES) was a business unit of Enron Corporation, whose purpose was to provide gas, electricity, and energy management directly to businesses and homes. ...


Decline

Enron's global reputation was undermined, however, by persistent rumours of bribery and political pressure to secure contracts in Central, South America, Africa, and the Philippines. Especially controversial was its $3 billion contract with the Maharashtra State Electricity Board in India, where it is alleged that Enron officials used political connections within the Clinton and Bush administrations to exert pressure on the board. On January 9, 2002, the United States Department of Justice announced it was going to pursue a criminal investigation of Enron and Congressional hearings began on January 24. Bribery is a crime defined by Blacks Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions as an official or other person in discharge of a public or legal duty. ... Map of Central America Central America is a central region of the Americas. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ... Maharashtra state electricity board is a state owned electricity regulation board operating within the state of Maharashtra in India. ... William Jefferson Clinton, (born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States and a former governor of Texas. ... January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... Justice Department redirects here. ... Congress in Joint Session. ... January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...


After a series of scandals involving irregular accounting procedures bordering on fraud perpetrated throughout the 1990's involving Enron and its accounting firm Arthur Andersen, it stood at the verge of undergoing the largest bankruptcy in history by mid-November 2001. A white knight rescue attempt by a similar, smaller energy company, Dynegy, was not viable. Accounting scandals, or corporate accounting scandals are political and business scandals which arise with the disclosure of misdeeds by trusted executives of large public corporations. ... Arthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, Illinois, was once one of the Big Five accounting firms and performed auditing, tax, and consulting services. ... In business, a white knight refers to a potential acquirer (i. ... Dynegy is a large operator of power plants and a player in the natural gas liquids business, based in Houston, Texas. ...


During 2001, Enron shares fell from over US $90.00 to US$0.30. As Enron was considered a blue chip stock, this was an unprecedented and disastrous event in the financial world. Enron's plunge occurred after it was revealed that much of its profits and revenue were the result of deals with special purpose entities (limited partnerships which it controlled). The result of this was that many of the losses that Enron suffered were not reported in its financial statements. A blue chip stock is the description of the stock of well-established companies having stable earnings and no extensive liabilities. ... A special purpose entity (SPE) (formerly special purpose vehicle) is a firm created by a company to fulfill narrow or temporary objectives, primarily to isolate financial risk. ... A limited partnership is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership, except that in addition to one or more general partners (GPs), there are one or more limited partners (LPs). ... Historical financial statement Financial statements (or financial reports) are a record of a business financial flows and levels. ...


Insider Trading

Beginning

Insider trading, trading of a security based on material non-public information about a company, at Enron Corporation is not just a thing of the late 1990s or early 2000s. Enron has had trouble with insider trading dating back even to the 1980s. The first documented example of insider trading at Enron occurred in 1988. Two auditors, David Woytek and John Beard, discovered bank records showing that millions of dollars had been moved from Enron into the personal accounts of Louis Borget and Thomas Mastroeni. Insider trading is a term often used to refer to a practice, which is illegal in many jurisdictions, in which an investor trades securities of a company (, stocks, bonds or stock options) based on material non-public information which was obtained by an officer, manager, or other corporate insider, during... Security is a type of transferable interest representing financial value. ... Audit can refer to: Telecommunication audit Financial audit Performance audit Completion of a course of study for which no assessment is completed or grade awarded; especially audit is awarded to those who have elected not to receive a letter grade for a course in which letter grades typically awarded. ... A bank is an institution that provides financial service, particularly taking deposits and extending credit. ...


Both Louis Borget and Thomas Mastroeni were rumored to consort with rulers of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, gaining inside information on the workings of OPEC. This insider information had led to more profitable trading of oil commodities, until the cash flows from Enron into personal accounts were discovered by Woytek and Beard. Both auditors were told by Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lay to continue their investigation and make sure every penny was returned to the rightful account; however, no immediate action was taken against the perpetrators. Logo The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is made up of Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela; since 1965, its international headquarters have been in Vienna, Austria. ... The word commodity has a different meaning in business than in Marxian political economy. ... A chief executive officer (CEO) or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or executive officer of a corporation, company, or agency. ... Kenneth Lee Lay (born April 15, 1942) is an American businessman and former CEO of Enron Corporation. ...


Woytek and Beard would eventually gather enough information to prove that Borget and Mastroeni were participating in insider trading and stealing from the company. This information included bank statements that showed cash flows that were not recorded in the company's records along with copies of altered statements that Borget had filed with the company. However, despite all of the evidence that the two auditors had collected, they were told to drop the investigation by Enron's president, Mick Seidl, and the Chief Financial Officer, Keith Kern. Unfortunately for Woytek and Berd, Borget had brought in tens of millions of dollars to the company. Enron had given both Woytek and Beard the impression that the annual profits that Borget brought in to the corporation were more important than maintaining legal practices. President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, universities, and countries. ... The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a company is the corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the financial risks of a business. ...


Recent Insider Trading

If the Enron traders were indeed participating in insider trading during the 1980s, they apparently did not learn their lesson from nearly being caught by David Woytek and John Beard. To the auditors, it seemed that Enron would become caught up in the race for higher profits and would pursue them even if it meant using illegal practices.


Enron had created offshore entities, a unit which may be used for planning and avoidance of taxes, raising the profitability of a business. This provided ownership and management with full freedom of currency movement, and full anonymity, that would hide losses that the company was taking. These entities made Enron look more profitable than it actually was, and created a dangerous spiral in which each quarter, corporate officers would have to perform more and more contorted financial wizardry to create the illusion of billions in profits while the company was actually bleeding cash. This practice drove up their stock price to new levels at which point the executives began to work on insider information and trade millions of dollars worth of Enron stock. The executives and insiders at Enron knew about the offshore accounts that were hiding losses for the company, however, the investors knew nothing of this. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow led the team which created the off-books companies, and manipulated the deals to provide himself, his family and his friends with hundreds of millions of dollars in guaranteed revenue, at the expense of the corporation he worked for and its stockholders. A tax (also known as a duty, or Zakat in Islamic economics) is a financial charge or other levy imposed on an individual or a legal entity by a state or a functional equivalent of a state (e. ... In financial terminology, stock is the capital raised by a corporation, through the issuance and sale of shares. ... Andrew S. Fastow was the chief financial officer of Enron Corporation until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into his conduct in 2001. ...


In August of 2000, Enron's stock price hit its highest value of $90. It was at this point in time that Enron's executives, who possessed the inside information of the hidden losses, began to sell their stock. At the same time, the general public and Enron's investors were told to buy the stock, as the sky was the limit. Enron's executives told the investors that the stock would continue to climb until it reached possibly into the $130 to $140 range, while secretly unloading their shares as they knew the opposite to be true. Investment is a term with several closely related meanings in finance and economics. ...


As executives were selling off their shares of stock, the price continued to drop. As the price dropped, investors were told to continue buying stock or hold steady if they already owned Enron because the stock price would rebound in the near future. Kenneth Lay's strategy for responding to Enron's continuing problems was in his appearance. As he did many times, Lay would issue a statement or make an appearance to calm investors and assure them that Enron was headed in the right direction.


By August 15, 2001, Enron's stock price had fallen to $42 compared to its high of $90 just a year prior. Many of the investors trusted what Lay was telling them and still believed that Enron would rule the market. The investors continued to buy or hold onto their stock and lost more money every day. As October closed, the stock had fallen to $15 per share and many investors saw this as a great opportunity to buy Enron stock because of what Kenneth Lay had been telling them in the media. Just under a month later, on November 28, the stock price would slip below one dollar as the public was finally made aware of the millions of dollars in losses that Enron had been hiding. August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... November 28 is the 332nd day (333rd on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...


Enron CEO Kenneth Lay has been accused of selling over $70 million worth of stock at this time, which he used to repay cash advances on line of credit. He sold another $20 million worth of stock in the open market. Also, Lay's wife, Linda, has been accused of selling 500,000 shares of Enron stock totaling $1.2 million on November 28, 2001. The money earned from this sale did not go to the family but rather to charitable organizations, which had already received pledges of contributions from the foundation. Records show that Mrs. Lay placed the sale order sometime between 10:00 and 10:20 AM, while the news of Enron's problems went public about 10:30 that morning. Credit as a financial term, used in such terms as credit card, refers to the granting of a loan and the creation of debt. ... November 28 is the 332nd day (333rd on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... A Foundation is a type of philanthropic organization set up by either individuals or institutions as a legal entity (either as a corporation or trust) with the purpose of distributing grants to support causes in line with the goals of the foundation. ...


Former Enron executive Paula Rieker has been charged with criminal insider trading. Rieker obtained the 18,380 Enron shares for $15.51 a share. She sold that stock for $49.77 a share in July 2001, a week before the public was told what she already knew about the $102 million loss.


Aftermath

Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, both former Enron chief executive officers, went on trial for their part in the Enron scandal in January 2006. Former chief accounting officer Richard Causey went on trial along with Lay and Skilling. The 53-count, 65-page indictment covers a broad range of financial crimes, including bank fraud, making false statements to banks and auditors, securities fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, money laundering conspiracy and insider trading. U.S. District Judge Sim Lake has previously denied motions by the defendants to hold separate trials and to move the case out of Houston, where the defendants argued the negative publicity surrounding Enron's demise would make it impossible to get a fair trial. In legal parlance, a trial is an event in which parties to a dispute present information (in the form of evidence) in a formal setting, usually a court, before a judge, jury, or other designated finder of fact, in order to achieve a resolution to their dispute. ... CAO is the bizspeak acronym for Chief Accounting Officer. ... In the common law legal system, an indictment is a formal charge of having committed a serious criminal offence. ... Bank fraud is a federal crime in many countries, defined as planning to obtain property or money from any federally insured financial institution. ... Civil securities fraud is a form of white collar crime which has been increasing on the rise as the Internet and the World Wide Web have brought white collar criminals and their victims closer together, resulting in an upsurge in global economic crime. ... Wire fraud is a legal concept in the United States Code which provides for enhanced penalty of any criminal activity if it is determined that the occurrence of the crime involved electronic communications of any sort, at any phase of the event. ... Money laundering is the practice of engaging in financial transactions in order to conceal the identity, source and destination of the money in question. ... A United States federal judge is a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article III of the United States Constitution. ...


Mr. Lay pleaded not guilty to the eleven criminal charges. Lay has stated that he is innocent and that he was misled by those around him. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking more than $90 million from Lay in addition to civil fines. The SEC would like to see that Mr. Lay is barred from ever serving as a director or an officer for a publicly held company. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, commonly referred to as the SEC, is the United States governing body which has primary responsibility for overseeing the regulation of the securities industry. ... Literally a public company is a company owned by the public. ...


The case surrounding Mrs. Linda Lay is a difficult one. Mrs. Lay sold roughly 500,000 shares of Enron thirty minutes to ten minutes before the information that Enron was collapsing went public on November 28, 2001. This was information that Enron executives had known for over a year. This timeline of events presents a very good case for the prosecution. November 28 is the 332nd day (333rd on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...


However, there are two specific points that make the case against Mrs. Lay a difficult one. The largest hurdle for the prosecution is that the Lays did not profit from the sale of this stock. It instead went to their family foundation and in the months following, the proceeds were given away to charity. The second hurdle is that even if Mr. Lay had come home and told his wife about Enron's troubles, this communication is a marital confidence and its disclosure cannot be forced. This would mean the government would have to find a third party witness to testify that Mrs. Lay did have insider knowledge at the time of the sale.


Former managing director of investor relations for Enron Paula Rieker pleaded guilty in federal court to a criminal insider trading charge. The one felony charge against Rieker carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a $1 million fine. Rieker agreed to never again serve as an officer or director of a public company. If a federal court approves the settlement, Rieker will pay the SEC $499,333, the profit from the sale of 18,380 shares of Enron stock. Rieker has been a valuable witness for the government as she prepared earnings releases and conference calls with Enron analysts. Investor relations (IR) is a set of activities which relate to the ways in which a company discloses information required for regulatory compliance and good investment judgment to bond and/or shareholders and the wider financial markets. ... The term federal court, when used by itself, can refer to: Any court of the national government in a country that has a federal system such as that of the United States (United States federal courts) or Mexico In some countries, a particular court, for example, the Federal Court of... A felony, in many common law legal systems, is the term for a very serious crime, whereas misdemeanors are considered to be less serious offenses. ...


On December 28, 2005, former CAO Richard Causey pleaded guilty to securities fraud. He will have to serve 7 years in prison and pay $1.25 million to the US Government. Causey has the possibility of only serving 5 years in prison if he cooperates and testifies against former Chairmen and CEO, Kenneth Lay and former CEO and COO, Jeffrey Skilling. December 28 is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 3 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... CAO is the bizspeak acronym for Chief Accounting Officer. ... Richard Causey graduated from the University of Texas with a Masters degree in business and a bachelors degree in accounting. ... Kenneth Lee Lay (born April 15, 1942) is an American businessman and former CEO of Enron Corporation. ... This article is in need of attention. ...


On January 13, 2006 lobbyist William "Art" Roberts pleaded guilty to impersonating Senate staff members during the investigation. January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...


Roberts was hired by a German bank in June 2004 to get a letter from a Senate subcommittee stating the bank had done their due diligence investigating the Enron collapse, as part of the bank's defense in a suit filed against it by a London bank. [1] Due diligence (also known as due care) is the effort made by an ordinarily prudent or reasonable party to avoid harm to another party or himself. ...


Fallout

The long-term implications of Enron's collapse are somewhat unclear, but there is considerable political fallout both in the US and in the UK relating to the money Enron gave to political figures (around US$6 million since 1990). The fallout from the scandal quickly extended beyond Enron and all those formerly associated with it. The trial of Arthur Andersen on charges of obstruction of justice related to Enron also helped to expose its accounting fraud at WorldCom. The subsequent bankruptcy of that telecommunications firm quickly set off a wave of other accounting scandals. This wave engulfed many companies, exposing high-level corruption, accounting errors, and insider trading. Though at the time of its collapse, Enron was the largest bankruptcy in history, since then it has been eclipsed by the collapse of WorldCom. Arthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, Illinois, was once one of the Big Five accounting firms and performed auditing, tax, and consulting services. ... Obstruction of justice, in a common law state, refers to the crime of offering interference of any sort to the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other (usually government) officials. ... For a time, WorldCom (WCOM) was the United States second largest long distance phone company (AT&T was the largest). ... Accounting scandals, or corporate accounting scandals are political and business scandals which arise with the disclosure of misdeeds by trusted executives of large public corporations. ... Insider trading is a term often used to refer to a practice, which is illegal in many jurisdictions, in which an investor trades securities of a company (, stocks, bonds or stock options) based on material non-public information which was obtained by an officer, manager, or other corporate insider, during... For a time, WorldCom (WCOM) was the United States second largest long distance phone company (AT&T was the largest). ...


Former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow, the mastermind behind Enron's complex network of offshore partnerships and questionable accounting practices, was indicted on November 1, 2002, by a federal grand jury in Houston on 78 counts including fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy. He and his wife Lea Fastow, former assistant treasurer, accepted a plea agreement on January 14, 2004. Andrew Fastow will serve a ten-year prison sentence and forfeit US $23.8 million, while Lea Fastow will serve a five-month prison sentence and a year of supervised release, including five months of house arrest; in return, both will provide testimony against other Enron corporate officers. Andrew S. Fastow was the chief financial officer of Enron Corporation until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into his conduct in 2001. ... The term Mastermind can refer to various different concepts: Master Mind Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose. ... Offshore may refer to oil and natural gas production at sea; see oil platform. ... In the common law legal system, an indictment is a formal charge of having committed a serious criminal offense. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... A grand jury is a type of common law jury responsible for investigating alleged crimes, examining evidence, and issuing indictments if they believe that there is enough evidence for a trial to proceed. ... Money laundering is the practice of engaging in financial transactions in order to conceal the identity, source and destination of the money in question. ... In the criminal law conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to break the law at some time in the future. ... Lea Weingarten Fastow (born 1961) is wife of Enron executive Andrew Fastow and the second former Enron executive to go to prison after the company collapsed in December 2001. ... A plea agreement or plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case in which a prosecutor and a defendant arrange to settle the case against the defendant. ... January 14 is the 14th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...


Ben Glisan Jr., a former Enron treasurer, was the first man to be sent to prison in the Enron scandal. He pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit security and wire fraud. In many governments, a treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury. ... In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more natural persons to break the law at some time in the future, so a natural person identified with the mind of a legal entity cannot conspire with the company alone. ... Wire fraud is a legal concept in the United States Code which provides for enhanced penalty of any criminal activity if it is determined that the occurrence of the crime involved electronic communications of any sort, at any phase of the event. ...


John Forney, a former energy trader who invented various strategies such as the "Death Star", was indicted in December 2002, on 11 counts of conspiracy and wire fraud. His trial was scheduled for October 12, 2004. His supervisors, Timothy Belden and Jeffrey Richter, have both pled guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and currently are aiding prosecutors in investigating this scandal. The Death Star strategy was the name Enron gave to their practice of shuffling energy around the California power grid to receive payments from the state for relieving congestion. ... Wire fraud is a legal concept in the United States Code which provides for enhanced penalty of any criminal activity if it is determined that the occurrence of the crime involved electronic communications of any sort, at any phase of the event. ... October 12 is the 285th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (286th in leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jeffrey Richter is a co-founder of Wintellect, a training, debugging, and consulting firm dedicated to helping companies build better software, faster. ...


Jeffrey Skilling was arrested on February 11, 2004, by the FBI. Kenneth Lay was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 7, 2004 for his involvement in the scandal. He pled not guilty in court on July 9. Both men are scheduled for trial in January 2006. This article is in need of attention. ... February 11 is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Official FBI Seal The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal criminal investigative and intelligence agency which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... Kenneth Lee Lay (born April 15, 1942) is an American businessman and former CEO of Enron Corporation. ... A grand jury is a type of common law jury responsible for investigating alleged crimes, examining evidence, and issuing indictments if they believe that there is enough evidence for a trial to proceed. ... July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 175 days remaining. ... Lead judge is Sim Lake. ...


Enron's collapse also led to the creation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, signed into law on July 30, 2002. It is considered the most significant change to federal securities laws since FDR's New Deal in the 1930s. Before the signing ceremony of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, President George W. Bush meets with Senator Paul Sarbanes, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and other dignitaries in the Blue Room at the White House July 30, 2002. ... July 30 is the 211th day (212th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 154 days remaining. ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... There are seven federal statutes that regulate federal securities transactions: Securities Act of 1933 Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 Trust Indenture Act of 1939 Investment Company Act of 1940 Investment Advisers Act of 1940 Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970 Categories: Stub | United... FDR redirects here. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: New Deal The New Deal is the name given to the series of programs implemented between 1933-37 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the goal of relief, recovery and reform of the United States economy during the Great Depression. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...


The status of the pension plans that were promised to Enron's employees has been in question since the collapse of Enron. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is attempting to cover some and possibly all of the promised benefits. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (or PBGC) is an independent agency of the United States government created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to encourage the continuation and maintenance of voluntary private pension plans, provide timely and uninterrupted payment of pension benefits, and keep pension insurance...


Trials

Court membership Case opinions Laws applied 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(2)(A) and (B) (2000 version which has since been modified by Congress) Arthur Andersen LLP v. ... Lead judge is Sim Lake. ...

Pensions

Thousands of Enron employees and investors lost their life savings, children's college funds, and pensions when Enron collapsed. A lawsuit on the behalf of a group of Enron's shareholders has been filed against Enron executives and directors. This lawsuit accuses twenty-nine of these executives and directors of insider trading and misleading the public. A pension (also known as superannuation) is a retirement plan intended to provide a person with a secure income for life. ... A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in which the party commencing the action, the plaintiff, seeks a legal remedy. ...


Because the 401(k) plan is a defined contribution plan, there was no PBGC insurance and employees lost their money that was invested in Enron stock. They could only sue anyone who is considered a fiduciary for breach of their duty of care based on ERISA Section 404. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (or PBGC) is an independent agency of the United States government created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to encourage the continuation and maintenance of voluntary private pension plans, provide timely and uninterrupted payment of pension benefits, and keep pension insurance premiums... In many common law jurisdictions, fiduciary is a legal term used to describe a relationship between a person who occupies a particular position of trust, power or responsibility with respect to the rights, property or interests of another. ... The following, taken from http://www. ...


Restructuring

Following the 2001 bankruptcy filing, Enron has been attempting to restructure in order to compensate as many creditors as possible. Enron's innovative core energy trading business was sold early in the bankruptcy proceedings to Merrill Lynch and Company. A last-ditch survival attempt was made in 2001 through a planned merger with arch-rival Dynegy Corporation. Dynegy backed out during merger talks, acquiring control of Enron's original, predecessor company - Northern Natural Gas - in the process. Enron is currently pursuing legal action against Dynegy over the takeover of Northern Natural Gas, which has since been sold by Dynegy to MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company. Merrill Lynch & Co. ...


Enron's final bankruptcy plan provides for the creation of three new businesses to be spun off from Enron as independent, debt-free companies. The reorganization process commenced in 2003, with the formation of two new Enron subsidiaries, CrossCountry Energy L.L.C., and Prisma Energy International Inc. Prisma Energy International Inc. ...


CrossCountry Energy, formed from Enron's domestic gas pipeline assets, was immediately placed on the market for creditor compensation. On September 1, 2004, Enron announced an agreement to sell CrossCountry Energy to CCE Holdings L.L.C. (a joint venture between Southern Union Company and a unit of General Electric) for $2.45 billion. The money will be used for debt repayment, and represents a substantial increase over the previous offer made by NuCoastal L.L.C. earlier in 2004. September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...


Prisma Energy International, formed out of Enron's remaining overseas assets, will emerge from bankruptcy as a main-line descendant of Enron through a stock offering to Enron creditors. Currently, many of Prisma's assets remain under direct Enron ownership with Prisma operating in a management capacity.


The third company, Portland General Electric (PGE), was founded in 1889, and ranks as Oregon's largest utility. PGE was acquired by Enron during the 1990's, and will emerge from bankruptcy as an independent company through a private stock offering to Enron creditors. Portland General Electric (PGE) is an investor-owned electrical utility that distributes electricity to customers in parts of Portland, Oregon, as well as parts of Multnomah, Clackamas, Marion, Yamhill, Washington, and Polk counties - half of the inhabitants of Oregon. ...


All remaining assets not related to CrossCountry, Prisma, or Portland General will be liquidated. As of 2006, CrossCountry is now under CCE Holdings ownership, while the Portland General and Prisma deals remain to be consummated. Enron emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2004 but will likely be wound down once the recovery plan is carried out. Enron's remaining assets are grouped under two main subsidiary companies- Prisma Energy International and Portland General Electric, both of which will likely be spun off. 2006 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...


Various

The baseball stadium Enron Field in Houston, Texas, named after the company, was renamed to Astros Field to avoid negative publicity. The park's name was later changed to Minute Maid Park. The Houston Astros had to pay Enron $5 million to get out of the deal. Nickname: Space City Official website: www. ... Major league affiliations National League (1962-present) Central Division (1994-present) West Division (1969-1993) Major league titles World Series titles (0) None NL Pennants (1) 2005 Central Division titles (4) 2001 â€¢ 1999 â€¢ 1998 â€¢ 1997 West Division titles (2) [1][2] 1986 â€¢ 1980 Wild card berths (2) 2005 â€¢ 2004 [1... Minute Maid Park is a baseball stadium in Houston, Texas that opened in 2000 to house the Houston Astros. ... Major league affiliations National League (1962-present) Central Division (1994-present) West Division (1969-1993) Major league titles World Series titles (0) None NL Pennants (1) 2005 Central Division titles (4) 2001 â€¢ 1999 â€¢ 1998 â€¢ 1997 West Division titles (2) [1][2] 1986 â€¢ 1980 Wild card berths (2) 2005 â€¢ 2004 [1...


David Tonsall, a former Enron employee, became a rapper under the name N Run, which is a play on the name "Enron" and also stands for "never run." He released his CD Corporate America on December 3, 2003. December 3 is the 337th (in leap years the 338th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...


A 2005 movie, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, based on the 2003 bestseller of the same name by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, documents the Enron story. [2] [3] Bethany McLean (born 1971) is a business writer for Fortune magazine and is best known as the co-author, with Fortune colleague Peter Elkind, of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, exposing the corrupt business practices of Enron officials. ...


As a result of their investigation the FERC made a large portion of Enron's email database available to the public. This database comprises roughly 500,000 email messages and has become a standard dataset in email research.[4] Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC): The U.S. federal agency with jurisdiction over interstate electricity sales, wholesale electric rates, hydroelectric licensing, natural gas pricing, oil pipeline rates, and gas pipeline certification. ...


See also

Timeline of the Enron scandal: // 2000 November 1 Enron CEO Kenneth Lay begins selling Enron shares. ... Some of the pension funds that lost money from investing in Enron stock. ... The Enron Three are 3 United Kingdom businessman—Giles Darby, David Bermingham and Gary Mulgrew—who are facing extradition to the United States on charges relating to the collapse of the Enron Corporation in 2001. ... The California electricity crisis (also known as the Western Energy Crisis) of 2000 and 2001 followed a failed partial-deregulation, in 1996, of the electricity market in the state. ... Conspiracy of Fools is a book by Kurt Eichenwald detailing the Enron scandal. ... Corporate abuse refers to incidents that involve unethical behavior on behalf of a corporation; a case of corporate abuse may be a scandal, fraud, or negligence toward the corporations employees and/or the local community. ... In criminology, corporate crime refers to crimes either committed by a corporation, i. ... Corporate governance is the set of processes, customs, policies, laws and institutions affecting the way a corporation is directed, administered or controlled. ... Creative accounting and earnings management are euphemisms referring to accounting practices that deviate from standard accounting practices. ... The front page of EnronOnline EnronOnline was considered by many to be the first very successful e-commerce website. ... Azurix Corp. ... Dabhol Power Plant The Dabhol Power Company was a company based in India and was made to manage and operate the Dabhol Power Plant. ... // Bernard Ebbers Bernard John Ebbers Bernard John Ebbers, also known as Bernie Ebbers is a Canadian-born businessman. ... The following is a list of notable business failures, known either for marking the end of a well-known brand, for criminal proceedings associated with their demise (often fraud or other corporate crime) or for causing significant financial problems or suffering. ... Court membership Case opinions Laws applied 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(2)(A) and (B) (2000 version which has since been modified by Congress) Arthur Andersen LLP v. ... J. Clifford Baxter (September 27, 1958 - January 25, 2002) was a former Enron Corporation executive who resigned in May 2001. ...

Bibliography

  • Mimi Swartz, Sherron Watkins, Power Failure: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron (Doubleday, 2003) ISBN 0385507879
  • Bethany McLean, Peter Elkind, Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron (Portfolio, 2003) ISBN 1591840082
  • Robert Bryce, Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron (PublicAffairs, 2002) ISBN 158648138X
  • Lynn Brewer, Matthew Scott Hansen, House of Cards, Confessions of An Enron Executive (Virtualbookworm.com Publishing, 2002) ISBN 1589392485 ISBN 1589392485
  • Kurt Eichenwald, Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story (Broadway Books, 2005) ISBN 0767911784
  • Peter C. Fusaro, .Ross M. Miller, What Went Wrong at Enron: Everyone's Guide to the Largest Bankruptcy in U.S. History (Wiley, 2002), ISBN 0471265748
  • Loren Fox, Enron: The Rise and Fall. (Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2003)

Sharon Watkins was Vice President of corporate development at Enron and is considered by many the whistleblower who helped to uncover the Enron scandal in 2001/2002. ... Bethany McLean (born 1971) is a business writer for Fortune magazine and is best known as the co-author, with Fortune colleague Peter Elkind, of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, exposing the corrupt business practices of Enron officials. ... Robert Bryce was the author of Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron (PublicAffairs, 2002) ISBN 158648138X Category: ... Kurt Eichenwald (born June 28, 1961) is a writer and investigative reporter at The New York Times newspaper. ... Conspiracy of Fools is a book by Kurt Eichenwald detailing the Enron scandal. ...

External links

  • Enron Media Critique
  • The Enron homepage
  • [5] - homepage of Prisma Energy International Inc.
  • [6]- homepage of CrossCountry Energy L.L.C.
  • [7]- homepage of Portland General Electric Company
  • [8]- homepage of Northern Natural Gas Company
  • The former Enron Building from Houston Architecture Info.[9]
  • Enron experts for comment
  • Ken Lay's correspondence with George W. Bush while Lay was CEO of Enron

George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States and a former governor of Texas. ...

Accounting

  • CPA Journal - Enron and the Raptors
  • Enron Debacle is an informative account of events leading up to the fall of Enron.
  • Moody's KMV Default Case Studies

General

  • Guardian Unlimited Special Report: Enron
  • BBC News In Depth: Enron
  • Enron News, News Sources, News Searches, and Business Research:
  • Stunning Depths of Government Collaboration with Enron Revealed - (Democracy Now!)
  • Enron's Pawns: How Public Institutions Bankrolled Enron's Globalization Game - Press release of report by the Institute for Policy Studies.
  • Feds order a quarter-billion refund to Enron
  • At Enron, ignorance was bliss

Democracy Now! is a syndicated news and opinion radio and television program that airs on over 400 stations and both satellite television networks in North America. ... Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) is an American think tank for progressive politics. ...

Tapes

  • The Enron Tapes - Public/Redacted Audio Files and Public/Redacted Transcripts
  • Enron traders caught on tape - Gloating about manipulating California's energy market. (CBS Evening News)
  • More Enron Tapes
  • Even More Enron tapes

The CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. It has broadcast since 1948. ...

Other

  • Yahoo! - Enron Corp. Company Profile
  • Document Repository for Enron Bankruptcy
  • The Best Enron Books reviews books on Enron.
  • Suicide note of Enron employee J. Clifford Baxter (Chron.com)
  • NRun Wreckords: 'Corporate America'
  • Harvard Business Review articles before, during, and after its 'innovative management'
  • Enron's Code of Ethics

Directories

  • Open Directory Project - Enron directory category
  • LookSmart - Enron Case directory category
  • Yahoo - Enron History directory category

  Results from FactBites:
 
Enron: Who We Are (259 words)
Enron's business is to create value and opportunity for your business.
It's difficult to define Enron in a sentence, but the closest we come is this: we make commodity markets so that we can deliver physical commodities to our customers at a predictable price.
Enron's four business units -- Wholesale Services, Energy Services, Broadband Services and Transportation Services -- offer a wide range of physical, transportation, financial and technical solutions to thousands of customers around the world.
Enron Corporation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (3876 words)
Enron was originally involved in the transmission and distribution of electricity and gas throughout the United States and the development, construction, and operation of power plants, pipelines, and other infrastructure worldwide.
Enron's global reputation was undermined, however, by persistent rumours of bribery and political pressure to secure contracts in Central and South America, in Africa, and in the Philippines.
Enron's plunge occurred after it was revealed that much of its profits and revenue were the result of deals with special purpose entities (limited partnerships which it controlled).
  More results at FactBites »


 

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