The Enron Fraud Explained

[@rogerw3818]

My mother's portfolio included enron stock. Periodic reports are part of the game. She was very skeptical when the last one came because she couldn't figure out what was in it, so she called her broker and told them she was ready to get out. Despite their pushback, she held firm and the stock was sold off. When they were caught just a couple of weeks later, everyone wanted to know how she recognized the problem. She told them that the report made zero sense and looked like an attempt to deliberately confuse people, which was seen by her as a clear warning sign. Following the old "If it looks too good to be true..." doctrine, she won while all the others lost.

[@Allen-L-Canada]

wise mom!

[@EyeonthePrize247]

That’s incredible! How much would she have lost if the broker somehow encouraged her against it?

[@Tessitura9]

Makes sense. No company would release ambiguous reports if they were doing stellar lol.

[@sabrina.natalie]

Your mom seems like such a wise and intelligent woman. Glad that you were raised by her! 💕

[@jiogcyihsugyiocjfdoivhphvw6821]

@@EyeonthePrize247 everything

[@StreyX]

Andrew Fastow now lectures college students about ethics... I guess when you do everything you can to avoid them, you'd know a thing or two about it.

[@calmexit6483]

Legit??

[@MultiPetercool]

I knew Andy Fastow in High School back in Jersey. He was an arrogant little twerp.

[@williamsimpson2791]

I saw him when he spoke at the University of Houston several years ago

[@justicedemocrat9357]

Really? I would've thought he'd be relaxing at a beach somewhere with his tens of millions of dollars. Did the government find his money? At the very least I would've thought he'd be a consultant at a large hedge fund somewhere he's very smart in figuring out how to hide billions of dollars that's real skill.

[@dkupke]

Years ago I googled some of the Enron exec’s names. I found an article about one college that cancelled one of his lectures because some professors wrote a letter protesting, pretty much just saying the obvious “he’s a liar and a cheat, he doesn’t know anything about ethics.” And Fastow’s response was, of course, full of we es me crap. He learned nothing.

[@altongrimes]

Amazing with what eloquence and conviction Jeffrey Skilling proclaimed his "innocence".

[@angrybird7324]

psychopaths and narcissistic people of a certain level have no issues twisting reality to whatever they wish.

[@altongrimes]

@@angrybird7324 right. I believe that's what I see here. That certain individuals can be full of lies but are somehow able to communicate their "innocense" in a very convincing manner.

[@dcDOC19]

When was the last time a CEO of a major company came out and took any responsibility to the blatant crime?

[@fuzzzeballs]

he did choke up

[@saniahashmi8840]

Can anyone tell why electricity buyers gets natural gas in exchange

[@dcDOC19]

I feel sorry for the workers that couldn't afford high-powered attorneys and lost their 401Ks. Meanwhile the very people responsible for the fraud got lucrative severance packages on the way out..

[@jiogcyihsugyiocjfdoivhphvw6821]

paid for by those who lost everything

[@Wooley689]

Disgusting isn't it.

[@somethinglikethat2176]

Why are employees retirement funds tied up with the company?

[@Onomatopoeia4u]

​@@somethinglikethat2176A lot of them had their 401k's heavy with Erin stock. Probably seemed like the only sensible idea when the company had a $60 billion evaluation.

[@AgentClaytonWebb]

Maybe if the justice system started giving out life sentences for financially ruining so many people’s lives then maybe they would think twice.

[@westifer8838]

Stumbling through the "I have not lied" sentence. Was the last of jeffs integrity before walking out the door lol.

[@ameliareaganwright2758]

My brother, John Reagan, is married to the sister of Sherron Watkins. Her name is Julie Reagan. Sherron Watkins PERSONALLY told me of the shanigans going on at Enron. She told me that she told Ken Lay twice of her concerns with Enron's inflating its worth. She said Lay ignored her concerns and advice. Sherron also told me that Andy Fastow had gone to "the dark side." Fastow tried to confiscate Sherron's computer when she and her husband, Rick, were on a scuba diving vacation to Mexico. She said that Ken Lay's secretary thwarted Fastow's efforts to seize her computer, taking it into her personal custody. When the "s*i* hit the fan," Sherron was relegated to a remote cubical, being moved from her spacious office and given nothing to do. I told Sherron that Fastow, and probably Jeff Schilling, were trying to get her to quit. I told her to bring magazines to read to occupy her days. When Enron found out "The Feds" were coming, Sherron was moved from her remote cubicle to a corner office with a view. That was a ploy to divert the delving of the F.B.I. Sherron advised Ken Lay to have an independent audit performed by a company unrelated to Enron. Lay did the opposite, having Vincent and Elkins, a law firm on retainer by Enron, and Ernst and Young, also on retainer by Enron, to do the audit. It was all a sham. Sherron told me that she was afraid that Fastow would arrange for her house go up in flames. She was really afraid of what Fastow and Schilling would do to her and/or her family. Sherron has told me a lot more, and it's chilling. It's too much to write in this comment.

[@indyj16]

I have the audiobook Power Failure by Mimi Schwartz & Sherron Watkins on my Audible list. I've listened to it several times. The whole story is amazing. I hope Sherron is doing well.

[@cobblerwillorange]

"Mark to Market" accounting makes me laugh so hard. Basically, you just write down a number on a napkin and then say you made that money. It's absolutely hilarious to me this was 100% legal.

[@SurajSinghTomarArya]

Was ? They stopped it?

[@sunnycorax]

That is the thing that I learned when reading the book Conspiracy of Fools is "Mark to Market" has a purpose. Like say if you are a hedge fund who is trading stocks. You mark the stock movements upward movement as a profit and if the trade goes against you then you'd market it as a loss. It was meant as a tool in financial trading assets to show unrealized gains or losses as an accounting metric to keep track of the company. What Enron did wasn't mark to market is was pretty much make shit up as you go. If the trade on energy contracts went against them they under "Mark to Market" would be obligated to mark it as a loss but didn't because fuck it no one will notice, right?

[@BigSleepyOx]

I think it's rather shady, but I guess that as long as, once the ultimate result of the investment is manifest, the company reports the actual profit or writes down the actual loss, I guess it works. My only question is, when the company initially reports the expected income as real money, do they have to report it with a "Mark to Market" asterisk? Or do they not have to make public the Mark to Market nature of the investment until later?

[@sunnycorax]

@@BigSleepyOx I'm not for sure how that would work but I assume it would be handled as a mark down. Like if a retail chain sells an item at less than its value you'd put it down as a markdown in the books so and as a mark up when the trade moves favorably.

[@tiararoxeanne1318]

Mark to Market accounting should only affect Balance Sheet, not Statement of Income. You can write the present value of your future revenue as non-current asset, but you should also write unearned income in non-current liabilities section. Mark to Market accounting should be based on valid documents to guarantee the future revenue, such as long-term contracts. Only realized income should be recorded in the Income Statement. The non-current asset and unearned income should be re-assessed annually (usually at the end of financial year). This should be a fair accounting practice, nothing shady. I think Enron had recorded realized income bigger than it should, and their auditor (intentionally) missed it. I think the problem came when they run out of contracts because they already recorded almost all the future revenue as realized income. On the cashflow side, they should be fine initially because they could use the down payments of the contracts to fund their operational activities. But there are limits in such down payment, and revenue recorded in Statement of Income was not translated to cash, because the revenue was actually not realized yet. I think the problem was Enron had run out companies as its customers, so it was impossible to sign off more contracts. If only they worked in renewable natural resources instead of energy, their scheme could still go on, because there are more potential buyers in renewable natural resources market.

[@wtf123560]

I had a distant woman relative who worked for Anderson here in Houston at the time. She said the pay was good but working conditions were hellish. Being young and attractive, she said the almost daily sexual harassment was epic, especially from foreign clients. ( the French and Japanese were the worst. Her words not mine) Since the foreign contracts were very lucrative, no one in Anderson would defend her or other victims. We're talking about things that would get a senior manager fired these days. When Anderson folded there were not many tears shed from some of the rank and file. Different time back then.

[@MrSmith-on1qz]

“Things that would get a senior manager fired these days” So they said hello to her? LOL

[@thecakeisalie6601]

Wahhhhh 🙄

[@emilyjones5830]

“Almost daily sexual harassment”…..I highly doubt that.

[@omuani]

I have a friend whose wife used to work again a JCPenney warehouse. Managers having affairs were very common. Their stock was plummetting. Culture of a company makes a difference in how long a company will last. But most importantly, managers need to make decisions with the concerns of front line workers in mind.

[@glennchartrand5411]

Did you ever wonder how Block Buster Video went under? Why didnt they go into streaming ...well they did but they made the mistake of partnering with Enron when they did it.

[@rogerhurtubise2150]

Netflix went to them to get bought out, and they refused, worried it would impact their rental business

[@jiogcyihsugyiocjfdoivhphvw6821]

except blockbuster still technically exists

[@g.t.richardson6311]

The idea was correct, by both companies, but the infrastructure simply wasn’t there yet

[@watchm4ker]

@@rogerhurtubise2150 In fairness, Netflix at the time was a mail-order rental service and was only modestly successful.

[@villevalste1888]

I just find it interesting how Skilling stuttered at almost every point when he tried to make a statement about how he's innocent and did nothing wrong.

[@sifridbassoon]

when Enron was pulling all this crap (and causing the stock to skyrocket), I was in Silicon Valley and could barely pay rent on my apartment much less put any money into Enron stock. I was SO lucky.

[@stephenconnell]

Silicon valley a whole valley full of self deluded com men and sexual harasses

[@marianchicago4002]

This was actually a very nice piece, very informative. No cool images or music like Enron: Smartest guys in the room, but still worth watching. PS. Here’s a tidbit that few people know or connect, Tom Skilling, locally famous Chicago weatherman at WGN channel 9, believe he’s the highest paid weatherman in United States, is actually Jeff Skilling’s brother.

[@JimmyTheGreek2000]

02:20 - The original name of the company was to be 'ENTERON' ( 'Intestine' in Greek !) in reference to the miles and miles of pipes moving Natural Gas around the country. However, The consulting company who was hired to find a new name for the merged company ('InterNorth' and 'Houston Natural Gas') knew that the managers would not like the name 'Enteron' also proposed the name 'ENRON'. Therefore, ENTERON is a more appropriate name for the company considering all the SHIT that came down the PIPELINE (i.e. 'ENTERON')

[@avernvrey7422]

That's not quite the way it happened. 'Enteron' was picked by the consulting firm first, but only by coincidence. After the meaning was pointed out to them, they hastily came up with 'Enron.'

[@Liljoeygm]

The original name was always ENRON. Greek people like to associate words with their own. My Mom does the same thing

[@jblo6822]

I worked for Enron for a few years. I left in 1995 and luckily sold all my stock. But I worked with people who kept buying as the price started to drop, and they lost a ton.

[@botsareeverywhere]

Skilling only getting 14 years and a $45 Million dollar fine is a crime in itself

[@bearpayton34]

His brother is the greatest meteorologist though

[@mtnmoo]

@@bearpayton34Lolll true

[@pantherdddjvdgx]

16:50 I was like 🎻, while Skilling was playing the victim card

[@williamgant5463]

Its a shame you didn't mention Enron's involvement in the California energy crisis of the early 2000's

[@zandale525]

They stole millions and some people their lives

[@Jennsside]

They should make a part two and discuss Enrons involvement in California.

[@jeremylawson6648]

i came here for that, i was in 5/6th grade during that time & it go so normalized it’s unbelievable looking back thinking that was a scheme to boost rates/profit.

[@ginacantabene8629]

That was perhaps their biggest crime. Arbitrarily shutting down power plants in order to jack up prices anywhere from 200 - 1000%. As soon Skilling got out of jail in TX he should have been arrested, tried and incarcerated in CA.

[@frevazz3364]

This was absolutely despicable. And they were laughing about it too. Made people suffer for greed.

[@frankcoffey]

This was a result of an entire generation of leaders being educated to believe that what we used to call cheating was just good creative management. I don't know that this has changed at the university level, in fact some of the Enron generation might now be teaching at university. What students come away with is the idea that if you don't cheat you are "leaving money on the table" or not optimizing the business. So to give investors more confidence they hire a compliance officer with zero power to prevent anything.

[@RichBigJohnson]

The entire public accounting practice has changed for the better since this scandal and the SOX law changed it. There will always be a few bad eggs in the Big 4 accounting firms, but it’s much more difficult now for publicly traded Companies to deceive investors. Not impossible though.

[@frankcoffey]

@@RichBigJohnson SOX also improved information security and a bunch of other business processes.

[@davidjma7226]

And of course, Arthur Andersen accounting collapsed as a result. Consigned to the dustbin of history - they used to be one of the top five!

[@happyeastwood]

Never knew this. Thank you for the infromation.

[@MrDavidJMa]

@@happyeastwood Yep - and Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos (Shut down and liquidated; founder indicted for wire fraud and conspiracy) father was a VP at Enron. Its a funny old world.....

[@happyeastwood]

@@MrDavidJMa Damn that's startling. Just checked this information on google. It is true. Thank you for the second time for the new information.

[@matthewbeck7238]

Arthur Andersen was also involved in non-profit scandal with Baptist Foundation of Arizona.

[@LWeber-yw6zb]

Funny Thing is, Arthur andersen's Consulting Department prevailed but is now operating as Accenture

[@watchingitallhere]

The classics never get old.

[@johnbowen35]

I echo your sentiments on Mark to market, to me its a green light to embezzle other people's money, it's amazing that more corporations did not do what Enron did. I was a frequent visitor to 1400 Smith Street in Houston. My job as a delivery driver brought me to Enton Monday thru Friday every week, before, during, and after the scandal. I saw from time to time, Ken Lay, and Skilling, and Andrew Fastow, walking through the hallways, and many others. The feeling of distress and panick, was palpable. I had no idea about the nature of what was happening, before the media started reporting the scandal. But I remember thinking, what the hell is going on around here? The rest is sad history.

[@MeganVictoriaKearns]

×¹¹

[@AllHailNannerpuss]

Finally! Reading about Enron demise and Lay's getaway made me get into Business in the 1st place😅

[@chilevalentina27]

Let's gooooo 🚀🚀🚀 Keeping it real it takes a lot of guts.

[@jiogcyihsugyiocjfdoivhphvw6821]

yep, someone dying is very funny......................... even if he was a shitty guy

[@EnriquePerezBarahona]

Mr. Skilling's comments invoking unjust treatment by Congress are so ridiculous, yet he says them with total conviction. What a megalomaniac.

[@bigandyt-man3010]

16:05 "First, I have not lied to the Congress, or anyone else, about my recollection of events while I-while-i was at Enro-Enr-Enron..." oh he seemed so believable.. and it was just a coincidence that he sold all of his Enron stock right before the stock plummeted and they declared bankruptcy... these people disgust me..

[@austinh1028]

Thank you for this, I was too young to know what was going on at the time, but heard about this a lot

[@sonsofthewestredwhiteblue5317]

As deplorable as these monstrous financial fubars all are… Maidoff, Bearings Bank, Lehman Brothers, These guys… one can’t but marvel to and extent at the ‘go for broke’, Thelma and Louise style wilful ignorance which is given absolute carte Blanche over proceedings for much of their “meteoric” rises

[@fefetines9414]

I think no one talks about their influence on politicians to loosen oversight enough. The whole “free market, less governmental oversight” and “trickle down economics” crap that politicians push for on behalf of their donors has caused so much economic division in this country with the wealth gap just getting bigger and bigger.

[@jpwhre]

Thank you. I'm almost 50. Enron was a household name of negative stature. I just never knew why.

[@JoeSmith-ie3cx]

Did you live in a cave?

[@hendo337]

What makes anyone think that there aren't a ton of companies and governments right now doing the exact same sorts of things to prop up the entire economy right now?

[@grantoden8242]

Exactly. Look especially to Silicon Valley.

[@CassandraY]

The economy is a house of cards. When it fails, it's going to fail HARD.

[@johnmurray3888]

When the late T. Boone Pickens published his autobiography: "The First Billion is the Hardest", I obtained a copy - naively expecting Boone would devote at least one chapter to his thoughts on the Enron debacle. Imagine my amazement when the book's index gave just a single entry; the listed page didn't even contain one paragraph of Boon's thoughts - just a vague, oblique mention of Enron in a sentence. Considering that his respect for the interests of the shareholders was the absolute cornerstone of Boone's business philosophy, it was amazing to me that not a single word of moral outrage is attributable to Mr Pickens in regard to a fraud that destroyed $63.4 billion of Enron-shareholder value! Then again, in that afore-mentioned book, Boone also describes Ronald Reagan as "the greatest president in America's history"; having said that, Boone could hardly distance himself from the fact that it was Reagan's deregulation of the oil and gas industry that had made the formation of a corporate entity like Enron possible.

[@stevetaxpayer6664]

Enron was not a profitable company and in turn, it was never worth 63.4 billion dollars. This said, 63.4 billion in shareholder value was never "destroyed" as it's not possible to destroy something that doesn't even exist in the first place.

[@emilyjones5830]

Reagan’s biggest sin was giving amnesty to millions.

[@johnmurray3888]

@@stevetaxpayer6664 Your sophistry could equally apply to Bernie Madhoff's pyramid scam!

[@phdupont2500]

"The World's biggest fraud in World History, so far." KenSteve- Hold my Rehypothecated Beer!

[@xmen9916]

SEC never does enough to help retail investors!! Only everything for these crooks.

[@johnbowen35]

This was no scandal, it was criminal behavior, period. And the fact that there were so many players involved in this crime, it's disturbing to say the least. The ripple effects still are ongoing for the many victims. To do what they did, to so many, by so many, is unforgivable. The hell with Skilling and Fastow, they deserve to live in poverty, they should still be in prison.

[@billymadison4903]

You just described the US Government.

[@CyberSystemOverload]

Excellent video, very well explained!

[@NamNguyen-xt4yk]

NOW WE HAVE ELON MUSK

[@braquen]

“Mark to Market” is perfectly described as counting eggs before they hatch lol

[@bdflatlander]

Very good summary of the Enron scandal. It still surprises me that so many people with sophisticated backgrounds in Finance and Investing could have been duped for so long by primarily Skilling, Lay and Fastow. IMO the people who went along with the BS peddled by Enron did so because it was in their financial best interests to do so. I’m sure glad that I never invested in Enron stock. Sadly, many individual investors who did were severely harmed financially. Hopefully we all learned some valuable lessons from this audacious fraud.

[@nasirdar7990]

I completely lost it😂😂 when Mr skilling termed himself "innocent" 17:10

[@djayjp]

10:14 I feel like these few sentences really needed a way deeper dive to properly explain!

[@MicrophonicFool]

All frauds of any size by nature must eventually give way under their weak foundations. The impact changes dramatically with scale, but even a local street hustler has only so many scams before the hammer comes down, literally or figuratively.

[@miss.elisabethneumann9090]

The economy hardship, recession, unemployment and loss of job caused by covid pandemic is enough to push people into financial ventures.

[@g-tom1986]

I have secured financial freedom by investing in bonds, equities, EFT's and some digital currencies

[@isambo400]

The board member hooked his daughter up with the story. She’s not a hero, she was an insider who made millions off the scam.

[@AlonsoRules]

funny how the executives managed to sell their stock at "just the right time" and got millions out of it, while the rank and file workers were left with change

[@jiogcyihsugyiocjfdoivhphvw6821]

ya real funny..................................................................................................................

[@RK831]

Lou Pai sold out at the right time. He is one the biggest private land owners in Colorado now, with a stripper wife who bore his child.

[@jyee2217]

Did skilling really believe he was innocent? Slef delusion is possible

[@Kharmatos13]

He got like 30 years so why not lie about it. At some point you know you're screwed in every way.

[@nickl5658]

@@Kharmatos13 And got out after serving just 12 years. And has gone back to trading gas and oil.

[@BigSleepyOx]

He dumped $63M Enron stock while letting his employees that had invested their 401Ks into that same stock twist in the wind.

[@EyeonthePrize247]

@@BigSleepyOx Such an overwhelmingly blatant show of having disregard for anyone but themselves. Wealth is a helluva drug.

[@jackasswhiskyandpintobeans9344]

1:17 I actually kinda understand the beginnings of Enron. It's actually a good idea yet what Enron morphed into were capabilities they couldn't deliver. An energy holding company is a good idea.

[@g.t.richardson6311]

You have a good point

[@vcab6875]

Whistleblowers at Enron were ignored until it was too late. So many lives where ruined in Houston by Enron’s collapse.

[@conspiretolie]

I was in Federal Prison with Fastow and his biggest worry was crossing paths with an inmate or corrections officer that personally, or had family, that was hurt by this scandal.

[@jordanscherr6699]

What makes me really angry is how the former CEO would literally throw the entire nation's law under the bus just to protect himself. And he kept lying all the way until his conviction, and then beyond. I'm glad at least one rat decided to exchange the truth for a much reduced sentence. (I think he understood this wasn't going to go away.)

[@ThejOH007]

This company had so many red flags but people are greedy. Analyst: how do you make money? Enron: we can’t tell you but trust us!

[@johnbowen35]

I imagine sometimes, that if the leaders at Enron, were ethical and honest running the corporation, with all of the intellect and talent thaf Enron consisted of, how successful they would have been? I don't know if Skilling and Fastow have remorse over their crimes, or wish they could go back, and do things the right way, or if they are just wishing they were not caught.

[@g.t.richardson6311]

It was a viable company that still made money till Rick Kinder left He was last one that stood up to the crap Then all went south

[@CatManTho]

there's an entity left of them, called Enron Oil and Gas and it's publicly traded

[@g.t.richardson6311]

Parts of Enron live on at Dynergy

[@BLACKAAROW]

damn I didn't know you can gamble on the weather, LoL

[@johnbean2596]

How’s that different than any other farming-related commodity contract? Why call it weather instead of commodity

[@davidjma7226]

There's a connection between Enron and Theranos CEO. Can anyone guess?

[@Atite_Lometen]

She's the daugther of one of executive form Enron I don't know which one

[@medes5597]

Her dad was one of *thousands* of vice presidents, he was small fry in the company. He wasn't high enough in the company to know anything. She greatly overstated her father's importance to make it seem like she came from a family of wealthy executives. He wasn't an executive. He was roughly the level of a regional bank manager, who are also given the title vice president to make them feel important. Bank of America has over 100,000 vice presidents, and enron was basically the same.

[@richierich1835]

22 years served 14 years so if you shoot some one you serve less time than skilling that heart attack was lucky timing for lay at his age he would have died in jail

[@x15Lovex]

Weird seeing Bill Gates’ name as William Gates III

[@PretentiousStuff]

William Clinton

[@edwardoleyba3075]

@Cartel Bricks . Brings a new meaning to the term; A Bunch of Willies. 😉

[@javierrodriguez2863]

Hasn't the williams and or gates ruled england or ireland or maybe both! 🤔

[@Charlie-wl2qt]

Bill Wonka.

[@genXqureshi]

What about monetary fines? Did they just get away with serving some years and still ending up with loads of cash when freed?

[@radicalsyesterdaytodayandt8802]

I believe both Skilling and Fastow had to pay some hefty fines. I'm not sure exactly how much but Fastow is not nearly the wealthy guy he once was. Skilling is probably making more money than he should now, though, due to his early release and reemergence into the natural gas and energy sector.

[@jiogcyihsugyiocjfdoivhphvw6821]

nope, they got to keep all the money, as always

[@vernefits1953]

what happened to Anderson?

[@wallstreetmillennial]

they were forced to shut down, most of their business units were acquired by other audit / consulting firms

[@seneca983]

Fun fact: Accenture used to be a part of Arthur Andersen. However, they got into some kind of fight with their parent company which settled in arbitration. The ruling was that they could separate but they would lose the right to use the Arthur Andersen trademark. Losing the prestigious name felt like a big bummer until this scandal happened less than a year later.

[@CPAndy-x5x]

Ooopooh Skilling pulled the "if they're coming for me, they're coming for you, too!"

[@jonw]

That was back when 60 billion was considered a lot of money.

[@k47k1d1]

Exactly when did 60 BILLION stop being a metric fuck ton of cash???

[@jonw]

@@k47k1d1 “If you don’t believe it or don’t get it, I don’t have the time to try to convince you, sorry.”

[@harmhoeks5996]

HOOD valuation

[@starguy2718]

Apple's 2021 market cap is $2.5 *trillion* In comparison, Enron's $60 billion almost looks like a neighborhood convenience store.

[@user-fn4jl3uk2s]

Never have your 401K invested in your employer's own stock like please for god sake

[@RichBigJohnson]

20 or so years ago, everyone in Houston knew either an employee of Enron or someone who lost their retirement savings from Enron. Unfortunately, I knew of quite a few people. Just sad that they’ll be working into their 70s or 80s to make up for it.

[@amynurss1375]

Wonder what billion dollar company will go down next. Very good video on Enron. I don't understand a lot of it, but thanks for the explanation.

[@grantoden8242]

I think a lot of their model was built around people never fully understanding it. I don't really get it either.

[@Karmiangod]

I lost everything with ENRON, and gained it back with Apple and Amazon, safe investing from now on never again will I be duped by ENRON type companies

[@alexlafond3378]

I mean to be fair, they manipulated they’re number that many people such as yourself who though it legit. It’s not really you’re fault you were manipulated by them for losing everything

[@jiogcyihsugyiocjfdoivhphvw6821]

@@alexlafond3378 try that again

[@KurtBob]

6 years for a few hundreds of millions.,,, still came out a winner imo

[@rustcoal]

Sheeeit...Jeffrey Skilling holds SBF's coat

[@Vroomerz]

Columbia University students did a report on Enron before the collapse. Their conclusion was: run, don’t buy, avoid. The report was publicly available for years. Not sure if it’s still there. Then, Enron collapsed.

[@johnmacdowell146]

I was talking 2 a man who's parents worked 4 Enron & had all their retirement in Enron stock & lost it all....he told me the the rumor among the workers was that Lay, being politically connected ( Bush etc ) bought a body, had it declared his & skated out of his what would have been his death/jail sentence 2 live out his years Scott free

[@jiogcyihsugyiocjfdoivhphvw6821]

and im the king of pluto

[@autoclearanceuk7191]

There is a movie there.

[@SurajSinghTomarArya]

Tesla might be the next Enron story.

[@tyrantworm7392]

Whether Enron, or anyone, greed is a weapon of mass destruction.

[@williamthurmond4940]

“Biggest Fraud Ever” Crypto & NFT bros say “Hold my beer.”

[@sonsofthewestredwhiteblue5317]

Enron: “Pork bellies are up!”. - probably.

[@mikaa2004]

0:21 huh there name says it all E= Evil corp. 😂😂

[@scottwesley5018]

@9:32…. That sure is a lot of pyramids

[@Moonman63]

Enrons creative accounting was neither unique nor hidden. Everyone who was paying attention knew what they were doing and a lot of companies were doing something similar. The gov never cracks down when things are going well, it’s only after stuff hits the fan that they look to make an example of someone so the electorate don’t blame them.

[@josephmcdonnell402]

Your stations content is about at best 30% correct

[@lylewitt7393]

Don't is seem odd that Ken Lay, the head of Enron, who was on vacation and had a heart attack and died suddenly, then you heard nothing more about it. I believe he is living somewhere under another name. Just my opinion.

[@misslawless6021]

Every time I hear "enron" Robin Williams in Man of the Year saying, "Enron? More like we take your money AND RUN!"

[@SJlovesher49ers]

I am watching the Elizabeth Holmes series on Hulu. It made me curious to find out what happened with Eron because the scandal was mentioned. After watching this I still have no idea. lol

[@Wooley689]

They hid losses by hiding them in a bunch of smaller companies they had in the shadows, that way Enron looked solid because the main business did not take the hits of loss, they were able to make it look like the smaller businesses had the loss. In away it's like having more than one checking account and floating checks between them and hoping the money comes in to put in the bank account before it is caught that neither account had any funds in it. In the old days this could be done because funds were moved by armored car and mail and checking paperwork was done by hand. That would be why back then, large checks would take ten working days to clear. Today everything can be verified in seconds with a keystroke.

[@93greenstrat]

Before Enron, there was the Penn Central Transportation Company....

[@jiogcyihsugyiocjfdoivhphvw6821]

there were a lot of companies before enron. many companies existed before them.........................................................................................................................................

[@LegendaryCollektor]

I see what you're saying. That story deserves a fuckin movie. The Pennsylvania Railroad after ww2 became unfatholably corrupt, and they just took over the new york central.... 2 companies near bankruptcy for their own reasons...merging...

[@parkerterlaak2154]

Andy Fastow is my friend. He is a kind and remorseful man who is trying to help future generations. He is an amazing guy who made some mistakes when he was young and being praised by powerful older men. Things get distorted quickly.

[@gorka9020]

Did you hit your head against a rock?

[@parkerterlaak2154]

@@gorka9020 actually, yes really hard 31 years ago. Never been the same 🤷

[@gorka9020]

@@parkerterlaak2154 I'm affraid your gullibleness is a built in feature.

[@cedricliggins7528]

I agree. He is definitely misunderstood.

[@Derekzparty]

Weather contracts and Volcano insurance ... I knew it!

[@jiogcyihsugyiocjfdoivhphvw6821]

"well dont you think we're due for one" "well played"

[@markmalasics3413]

I never completely understood the nature of the Enron fraud scandal, and I had hoped this video would clear a few things up for me. However, the narrator is such an unprofessional hack that I can't understand him many times and have to replay the same scene over and over. After 4 minutes and 25 seconds I just gave up.

[@The-Singularity-X01]

I say we make both state and federal level laws, that if a Company goes under similarly to Enron AND over half of the employee's put their 401k's or their savings into the business by buying stocks, then any and ALL remaining assets are to be liquidated and used to reimburse the employees the value of the stock at the time they purchased that stock. And if the remaining assets aren't enough, then seize the personal assets of the 'decision makers' of the company to cover the rest.

[@deeplyclosetedindividual]

But buying stock is taking a risk, gambling. The employees took a gamble and it backfired. Sad, but true.

[@The-Singularity-X01]

@@deeplyclosetedindividual If the company goes under because they just couldn't cut it, that would be 'fine'. But massive MASSIVE amounts of fraud leading to the company pancaking like a poorly built apartment complex? No, the employees RIGHTFULLY deserve their money back.

[@abdulshukoor]

“They hired Mckenzie and company”. Say no more.

[@drewmckinney7843]

I know people just like Enron it’s crazy, they tell people everything is gonna be fine and it’s under control, smart people con stupid people though.. for awhile

[@TensaZangetsu1200]

Jeffrey's Killing your money.

[@NorthwestNicholas]

Wow, he only got 6 years? There are people who been sentenced to life for doing a lot less than this guy.

[@rayoflight62]

Any system to make money by using money inevitably ends in scam or fraud. Serious methods to raise money are all based on production or consumption. There is only one money-making activity, not based on economic movements, which is fully legitimate: the printing of money by sovereign States. But even the amount of money printing must be based on the size of the economy...

[@harmhoeks5996]

60 billion market cap at the top. That's like Robin Da HOOD today.

[@GillianKleiser]

How many more of these are out there still?

[@MattCurrieImprov]

This makes me a little more comfortable making a small amount of honest money, they would have been better of had they.

[@jiogcyihsugyiocjfdoivhphvw6821]

try that again

[@mangoy9853]

Holmes' roots run deep...

[@richardbeigel1913]

My fun conspiracy theory is that Lay faked his own death.

[@dkupke]

No but he did commit suicide

[@austinh1028]

So Enron, was replaced by Ercot?

[@poodymeiner3125]

Fastow got off really nice. 6 years for hundreds of millions of dollars? Sign me up for that

[@tmo2798]

Request for the next video : The Bitcoin Fraud Exposed

[@wallstreetmillennial]

lol, its the greater fool coin

[@CHMichael]

Having a truck roll down a hill looks like a bigger fraud to me , and hes still running aground.

[@harmhoeks5996]

Just short & wait? Afraid of hyperinflation

[@realestalex2728]

William Gates the third, lol

[@edwardoleyba3075]

Maybe should have been William Gates The Turd.

[@DeepakSharma-sp8cr]

Schilling sentenced to 24yrs but released after just 14yrs ? And made $1b + on selling of his Enron shares - wow! some life he and his cohorts have had who destroyed so many lives

[@CatSpringLawn]

I always felt this was only relevant in my life cause of Enron Field for a small piece of my childhood

[@themetatruthengineer1442]

Cengergistic, a company I worked for, is just as bad and they are located in Dallas. They lie on their numbers and exaggerate the results on their claim.

[@anidahhashim7473]

Please do The rise and fall of Arthur Andersen. Tq