Enron
Enron was an energy company based in Houston, Texas, although it was founded in Omaha, Nebraska. It was one of the largest energy providers in the United States, and employed over 21,000 people. It was named Fortune Magazine's "America's Most Innovative Company" for six consecutive years. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2001 after accounting fraud and corruption was reported.
Corruption and Demise
The Enron scandal occurred when Enron, a Blue Chip stock, was revealed to have far more debt than realized. Top officers misled shareholders and some transactions did not appear on the company's financial records using "future value accounting," whereby they were reporting profits based on projected future earnings rather than actual earnings.[1] The stock dropped from $90 a share to mere pennies. It is considered to be one of the largest bankruptcies in history.
Aftermath
The "Enron 3", Ken Lay, Jeffery Skilling, and Andrew Fastow, the top officers of Enron were all convicted for their role in the collapse of Enron. Enron's accounting firm Arthur Andersen was convicted of obstruction of justice for its dealings in the event, and went from being one of the top five accounting firms in the world, to a mere shadow of its original stature. This is because the numerous civil suits against it, lack of credibility, and loss of clients in the Enron collapse. The name of the Houston Astros' baseball stadium, Enron Stadium, was changed to Minute Maid Field after the incident. Many documentaries, movies and books about the Enron Scandal have been created, one of the most notable is the movie, Fun with Dick and Jane, with a storyline loosely based around the scandal, even mentioning Enron in the credits.
