Enron
The Illusion That Took the World by Surprise
Enron: The Smartest Guys In the Room is a movie about Enron and how it fooled the world into believing it was one of the most stable and profitable companies in the U.S. This is very sad because many people believed in the figures Enron was producing and entrusted their life saving in Enron stock. The scandal didn’t just affect a small group of people but 10’s of thousands of people lost everything, due to an illusion.
Kenneth Lay earning a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Houston joined Houston Natural Gas Co. as chairman and CEO. The company merged with InterNorth in 1985, and was later renamed Enron Corp. In 1986, Lay was appointed to chairman and chief executive officer of Enron. Lay was committed to do anything possible to see Enron succeed. In doing so he sentenced the company to scrupulous horrific death. Jeff Skilling was hired as Chief Operating Officer of Enron Finance Corporation and became the Chairman of Enron Gas and Electric. Skilling was a visionary and seemed to have the deregulation game figured out. He used mark to Market accounting system to forecast projected earnings. This made stocks skyrocket and so they appointed Jeff Skilling to CEO or Enron.
Skilling then hired Andy Fastow. Fastow was hired from Continental a bank based out of Chicago and was already making big gains in the deregulation market. Lay and Skilling promoted Fastow to CFO ‘98. Fastow continued to create innovative illusions to boost stock prices.
Before the debacle known to most as the Enron scandal had gotten unraveled. Enron was considered to be the seventh largest company in the United States. Enron received the most innovative company for 3 years running by Forbes Magazine. They were at the forefront of utility deregulations, innovator’s in the natural gas and electric sectors and starting to dabble in the .com uprising and broadband. They were a company that could do wrong in analyst eyes the
Enron: The Smartest Guys In the Room is a movie about Enron and how it fooled the world into believing it was one of the most stable and profitable companies in the U.S. This is very sad because many people believed in the figures Enron was producing and entrusted their life saving in Enron stock. The scandal didn’t just affect a small group of people but 10’s of thousands of people lost everything, due to an illusion.
Kenneth Lay earning a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Houston joined Houston Natural Gas Co. as chairman and CEO. The company merged with InterNorth in 1985, and was later renamed Enron Corp. In 1986, Lay was appointed to chairman and chief executive officer of Enron. Lay was committed to do anything possible to see Enron succeed. In doing so he sentenced the company to scrupulous horrific death. Jeff Skilling was hired as Chief Operating Officer of Enron Finance Corporation and became the Chairman of Enron Gas and Electric. Skilling was a visionary and seemed to have the deregulation game figured out. He used mark to Market accounting system to forecast projected earnings. This made stocks skyrocket and so they appointed Jeff Skilling to CEO or Enron.
Skilling then hired Andy Fastow. Fastow was hired from Continental a bank based out of Chicago and was already making big gains in the deregulation market. Lay and Skilling promoted Fastow to CFO ‘98. Fastow continued to create innovative illusions to boost stock prices.
Before the debacle known to most as the Enron scandal had gotten unraveled. Enron was considered to be the seventh largest company in the United States. Enron received the most innovative company for 3 years running by Forbes Magazine. They were at the forefront of utility deregulations, innovator’s in the natural gas and electric sectors and starting to dabble in the .com uprising and broadband. They were a company that could do wrong in analyst eyes the
Cited: Brewer, Lynn. “Is There A little Bit of Enron In All of Us.” Journal for Quality & Participation. Spring 2007, Vol. 30 Issue 1, p26-28. Gibney, Alex. Enron: The Smartest Guys In the Room. 2005. Film. Goldman, Arnold, William D. Sigismond. Business Law: Principles and Practices, 8th edition. “South-Westen Cengege Learning”. Mason, OH. 2011. Print Kershaw, David. “Evading Enron:Taking Principles Too Seriously In Accounting Regulation.” Modern Law Review. Wiley-Blackwell. July 2005, Vol. 68 Issue 4, p594-625. 32p