...Enron - Were they the Crookedest Guys in the Room? The Rise of the Big "E" In May 1985, InterNorth Incorporated and Houston Natural Gas announced that they would merge. Their combined value was an estimated $2.3 billion. These firms were two of the largest gas pipeline companies in the United States. As part of the negotiations, the chairman and CEO of InterNorth, Sam Segnar, would be the head of the new entity until January 1, 1987, when the chairman and CEO of Houston Natural Gas, Kenneth Lay, would take over. The new company was initially called HNG/lnterNorth and later was renamed Enron.' Lay's first choice for the new name of the company was “Enteron,” but that was scrapped just days before it was announced to the public when Lay learned that enteron was the name for the digestive tract. In 1990, Lay created a division of Enron called Enron Finance Corporation and hired Jeffrey Skilling to run the company. Skilling had been an accounting consultant to Enron through the firm of McKinsey & Company. Lay was so impressed with the accounting systems that Skilling developed for Enron that he custom-tailored the lead position at Enron Finance Corporation for him. By 1995, Enron had become the largest independent natural gas company in the United States. In 1996, Andrew Fastow, Enron's chief financial officer and one of the key players in Enron's downfall, was almost fired from Enron when he did an unsatisfactory job of managing a retail unit of Enron that competed...
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...MBA 6070X – Ethics & Law Essay 2 February 2015 Enron - Ethics & Law Essay Introduction: Enron Corporation was an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy in late 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 employees and was one of the largest electricity, natural gas, paper, and communication companies, with overall revenues of nearly $101 billion in 2000. The company developed, built and operated power plants and pipelines while dealing with rules of law and various infrastructures worldwide. In just 15 years, Enron grew into one of America’s largest companies and leading magazine “Fortune†named Enron “America’s Most Innovative Company†for six consecutive years. Enron divided its business into three main areas: (I) Enron Wholesale, (II) Enron Energy Service, and (III) Enron’s Global Asset. Enron wasn’t focusing to specific industry strategies. Rather, it has an overall strategy that calls for creating an environment and culture of creativity and idea generation. “Enron is a laboratory of innovation. Enron’s entrepreneurial approach calls for new insights, new ways of looking at problems and opportunities. Enron has an exceptional ability to leverage its intellectual capital. Individuals are empowered to do what they think is best. Enron’s philosophy is not to stand in the way of our employees. This environment spurs the innovation that enables Enron to revolutionize traditional energy markets and successfully enter...
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...UNITED STATES Syllabus SKILLING v. UNITED STATES CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 08–1394. Argued March 1, 2010—Decided June 24, 2010 Founded in 1985, Enron Corporation grew from its headquarters in Houston, Texas, into the seventh highest-revenue-grossing company in America. Petitioner Jeffrey Skilling, a longtime Enron officer, was Enron’s chief executive officer from February until August 2001, when he resigned. Less than four months later, Enron crashed into bankruptcy, and its stock plummeted in value. After an investigation uncovered an elaborate conspiracy to prop up Enron’s stock prices by overstating the company’s financial well-being, the Government prosecuted dozens of Enron employees who participated in the scheme. In time, the Government worked its way up the chain of command, indicting Skilling and two other top Enron executives. These three defendants, the indictment charged, engaged in a scheme to deceive investors about Enron’s true financial performance by manipulating its publicly reported financial results and making false and misleading statements. Count 1 of the indictment charged Skilling with, inter alia, conspiracy to commit “honest-services” wire fraud, 18 U. S. C. §§371, 1343, 1346, by depriving Enron and its shareholders of the intangible right of his honest services. Skilling was also charged with over 25 substantive counts of...
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...Assignment #3 Forensic Accounting in Practice Professor Demetrius Carolina, Sr. Bus 508-Contemporary Business February 16, 2013 The purpose of my paper is to explore Forensic Accounting and the many aspects surrounding the field. I will determine the skills necessary to be a forensic accountant and its application to business operations. I will also describe the role the forensic accountant plays in a courtroom environment and the role played by the forensic accountant in the litigation process. I will also provide case examples where forensic accountants are used and have provided vital evidence in the case. Today, forensic accounting is a rapidly growing segment of the accounting practice, and the current demand for forensic accountants far outstrips the current supply. Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. Have you ever been cheated, robbed or financially hurt by actions of others? Well, out of those feelings civil lawsuits arise based on the desire to reclaim what one perceives he/she has lost unjustly. Financial loss isn’t always easy to define or measure. So, the important task of investigating and quantifying the financial loss normally requires the expertise of a forensic accountant. A forensic accountant is a professional who uses a unique...
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...MBA 6070X – Ethics & Law Essay 2 February 2015 Enron - Ethics & Law Essay Introduction: Enron Corporation was an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy in late 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 employees and was one of the largest electricity, natural gas, paper, and communication companies, with overall revenues of nearly $101 billion in 2000. The company developed, built and operated power plants and pipelines while dealing with rules of law and various infrastructures worldwide. In just 15 years, Enron grew into one of America’s largest companies and leading magazine “Fortune†named Enron “America’s Most Innovative Company†for six consecutive years. Enron divided its business into three main areas: (I) Enron Wholesale, (II) Enron Energy Service, and (III) Enron’s Global Asset. Enron wasn’t focusing to specific industry strategies. Rather, it has an overall strategy that calls for creating an environment and culture of creativity and idea generation. “Enron is a laboratory of innovation. Enron’s entrepreneurial approach calls for new insights, new ways of looking at problems and opportunities. Enron has an exceptional ability to leverage its intellectual capital. Individuals are empowered to do what they think is best. Enron’s philosophy is not to stand in the way of our employees. This environment spurs the innovation that enables Enron to revolutionize traditional energy markets and successfully enter...
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...chak de phattey The Call for Participation for Wikimania 2009 has been released. Submit your presentations before April 15. [Hide] [Help us with translations!] Enron scandal From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Enron Corporation Type Defunct / Asset-less Shell Founded Omaha, Nebraska, 1985 Headquarters Houston, Texas, United States Key people Kenneth Lay, Founder, former Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Skilling, former President, CEO and COO Andrew Fastow, former CFO Rebecca Mark-Jusbasche, former Vice Chairman, Chairman and CEO of Enron International Stephen F. Cooper, Interim CEO and CRO John J. Ray, III, Chairman Industry formerly Energy Revenue $101 billion (in 2000) Employees approx. 22,000 in 2000 approx. 4 as of 2008. Website http://www.enron.com/ The Enron scandal was a financial scandal involving Enron Corporation (former NYSE ticker symbol: ENE) and its accounting firm Arthur Andersen, that was revealed in late 2001. After a series of revelations involving irregular accounting procedures conducted throughout the 1990s, Enron was on the verge of bankruptcy by November 2001. A white knight rescue attempt by a similar, smaller energy company, Dynegy, was not viable. Enron filed for bankruptcy on December 2, 2001. As the scandal was revealed, Enron shares dropped from over US$90.00 to less than 50¢. Enron's plunge occurred after revelations that much of its profits and revenue were the result of deals with special...
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...The Rise and Fall of Arthur Andersen LLP In October 2001, Enron was accused of overstating their earnings in the last few years in excess of $1 billion dollars (Doost, 2001). At the same time, Arthur Andersen, one of the most reputable auditing firms, was responsible for auditing Enron’s financial statements. The Security Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered Arthur Andersen to provide all relevant Enron documentation and auditing files. Going against Arthur Andersen’s impeccable reputation of honesty, David B. Duncan, the Arthur Andersen partner in charge of the Enron account, had his staff destroy thousands of pages of documents and records related to this case of fraud (Oppel & Eichenwald, 2002). Ultimately, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Arthur Andersen’s conviction of "knowingly...corruptly persuading another person to withhold or alter documents in an official proceeding" (Wojdacz, 2009). However, Arthur Andersen had imploded and was not able to recover. Founder and His Principles Arthur Andersen was founded December 11, 1913. Arthur Andersen had a reputation of exemplary honesty. Arthur Andersen himself came from an immigrant Norwegian family. He worked for Price Waterhouse. At 23, Andersen became the youngest certified public accountant (CPA) in the state of Illinois by educating himself at night (Marotta & Selman, 2009). At this time, CPAs were trying to establish accounting as a profession. Marotta and Selman (2009) stated Integral...
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...Draft - Corporate Governance Considerations This material was prepared by Eliot H. Sherman – July 2005 FOCUS Learning Objectives By the end of this chapter, you should be able to: Understand the issues related to agency and delegated responsibility. Describe the similarities and the differences in the corporate scandals that have been identified in the past few years Identify the responsibilities of managers to the shareholders and other stakeholders associated with their corporations. OVERVIEW Corporate governance is not a new topic. It has been around for many years, often described as the “agency issue.” However, in recent years it has taken on increased significance, demanding increased attention. Since 2001, in particular, the corporate marketplace has seen a significant number of headline grabbing scandals involving major corporations. These scandals have raised new questions about corporate governance and, as a direct consequence of some of these situations, the U.S. Congress passed a very broad piece of legislation called the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This law has had a wide range of consequences directly affecting large public corporations and public accounting firms and, less specifically, smaller public firms, private corporations, not-forprofit organizations and regulatory entities in many different ways. This law mandates some specific actions for large public corporations, many of these actions being required shortly after the legislation passed and others in...
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...ENRON COMPANY Foundation, History and Decline 1. Enron company 1.1 What is Enron 1.2 History and Organization 1.3 Main business units 1.4 Main characters 2. Enron scandal 2.1 The decline 2.2 Causes 2.3 Consequences of the scandal 2.4 Punishment 2.5 Enron's insurances 3. Enron reconstitution 3.1 Cleaning up after the fall 3.2 Restructuring Enron 3.3 The future (and present) of Enron 3.4 Preventive measures 1.1 What is Enron : Enron was one of the ten largest American company in the late 1990s. It dealt with energy and gas distribution and was based in Houston, Texas. On 2 December, 2001 the company made the largest bankruptcy in America until then (it was only surpassed by those of Worldcom in 2002 and Lehman Brothers in 2008). Before its bankruptcy Enron Corporation gave employment to about 22,000 people and claimed revenues of $101 billion in 2000. However in the late 2001, it was discovered that the company had used misleading accounting methods to produce incorrect and unclear financial statements and reports. The company filed for bankruptcy under chapter 11 of the United State Bankruptcy code, by losing $63.4 billion in assets. This led also to the dissolution of Arthur Andersen, one of the five largest audit and accountancy company in the world. Enron headquarters, based in Houston, Texas 1.2 History and Organization The Enron company was founded in July 1985 from the union of Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth Company of...
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...I: Elements of the crime Mr. Jeffrey Skilling was one of three executives at Enron Corporation that were indicted for manipulating financials to show the public inflated numbers about Enron’s profitability. By showing these numbers to the public they were trying to mislead the public into thinking the company was more profitable than it really was. Mr. Jeffrey Skilling was convicted by a Texas federal district court of conspiracy, securities fraud, making false representations to auditors, and insider trading. Mr. Skilling had been the C.E.O. of Enron Corp. Mr. Skilling appealed, he argued he was prosecuted by the government under an invalid legal theory and that the jury he had was biased. II. Defenses claimed by the defense Criminal trials are normally held where the crime was committed, however, the defendant may request a change of venue if they believe that bias where the crime was committed would prevent them from receiving a fair trial. Mr. Skilling argued that the court should have never tried him in Houston. Mr. Skilling pointed out prior cases where the Court decided that due to extreme media coverage there was a possibility of juror prejudice that required the courts to change the venue. However, I believe that Mr. Skilling’s case differs from these prior cases which were all in small communities, had media coverage that showed the defendant confessions, and trials that occurred right after the crime and media coverage. I also believe that Skilling’s jury acquitted...
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...ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURES POISON COMPANIES THE RISE AND FALL OF ENRON, WORLDCOM, HEALTHSOUTH, AND TYCO INTERNATIONAL David R. Lease, Norwich University Abstract This paper presents an analytical and comparative study of four recent corporate scandals involving organizations that had previously been recognized as both ethically and organizationally sound. Based on these case studies, the following issues are discussed: (1) The role of leader behavior and organizational/leadership styles in shaping the corporate organizational culture of an organization, and (2) The extent to which this culture renders the organization and its members (including the top executives) prone to ethical misbehavior. The four companies selected for this case analysis are: Enron Corporation, WorldCom, Inc., Tyco International, Ltd., and HealthSouth Corporation. Each case is considered individually. The basic elements in the scandal are outlined and the principal aspects of each organization’s corporate culture discussed, with special emphasis on the influence of leadership styles and leadership behavior/practices on organizational culture. The four cases are then compared and contrasted in the light of the existing evidence on the relation between corporate culture and ethical misbehavior. PRELUDE “We were doing something special. Magical. It wasn’t a job – it was a mission. We were changing the world. We were doing God’s work.” – Jeffrey Skilling, former Enron COO, President and CEO in the immediate aftermath of...
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...division of enforcement investigates possible violations of federal securities related laws and can take civil action with other law enforcement agencies when it comes to criminal cases. The market crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression took a toll on the public's trust in capital markets. Investors looking to go from rags to riches turned to the stock market during the roaring 20s. According to the SEC, an estimated $50 billion in new securities were offered, and half became worthless. Congress passed the Securities Act of 1933 and The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (which created the SEC) in an effort to restore confidence in the markets. Publicly traded companies were now obligated to disclose investment risks and provide full information about the state of their business. Brokers, dealers and exchanges were now legally required to put the interests of the investors first and treat them in a fair and honest manner. Congress established the SEC to enforce these laws for the sake of the investors and the future of market stability. The president of the United States appoints five commissioners who each serve five-year staggered terms. The chairman of the commission functions as the SEC's chief executive and is chosen by the president. Joseph P. Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy's father, was the first SEC chairman. No more than three of the five commissioners can...
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...| The Enron Scandal | | Introduction Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities and services company based in Houston, Texas. From the 1990's until December 2001, Enron was famous throughout the business world and was named by Fortune as "America's Most Innovative Company" for six consecutive years. It grew wealthy due largely to marketing, promoting power, and its high stock price. Before its bankruptcy, Enron employed about 21,000 staff in forty countries and was one of the world's major electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, which claimed revenues of $100.8 billion in 2000. Enron gave the illusion that it was a steady company with good revenue which was not the case, as a large part of its profits were made on paper through a creatively planned accounting fraud. Deep debt and surfacing information about hiding losses gave the company big problems and in the late 2001 Enron declared bankruptcy under the United States Bankruptcy Code. The collapse was followed by a series of revelations on how the executives manipulated Enron's success. The Fraud Schemes The Enron scandal, revealed in October 2001 was a management fraud involving top executives of Enron who deliberately manipulated the accounting structures in order to conceal their losses and debts so that the corporation appeared to be performing favourably. They adopted mark-to-market accounting, an accounting system based on market value, which was then inflated; the...
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...Corporate Executive Criminal Conviction Ricaviannca Weissenberg ETH/321 July 13,2015 Christine Benway Corporate Executive Criminal Conviction Enron, an American energy company based in Texas, was named by Fortune as “America’s Most Innovative Company” for six years in a row, with revenues of approximately $111 billion. However in 2001, Sherron Watkins, Enron’s finance executive, discussed her concerns about the company’s financial and accounting irregularities with its CEO, Kenneth Lay but was later asked to ignore the issue along with its auditor, Arthur Andersen. Andersen, who was later convicted, turned the other cheek while Watkins, “the whistle blower”, did not. In the same year, the “Enron scandal” was born. The scandal was disclosed to the public and has become, since then, the epitome of corruption and corporate fraud. Additionally, Enron was cited as “the biggest audit failure” ever. The former Enron CEO along with four Merrill Lynch & Corporation directors were convicted by a jury for accounting fraud while Arthur Andersen was found guilty in a U.S. District Court for illegally destroying documents related to the investigation. Moreover, the court found them guilty of hiding billions of dollars in debt from failed projects and deals along with willful fraudulent behaviors. Ethics Greed is not illegal but it can drive a corporation to commit wrongful doings and eventually crimes. The driving factor...
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...ENRON PROJECT Gilbert Canda Strayer University LEG100 – Business Law I Professor: Gloria Sodaro Enron began as a domestic natural gas pipeline company which was established in Houston, Texas during 1930. After operating for thirty years, during the 1960s; Enron decided to expand its corporation into different segments in order to invest in the diverse levels of the energy market. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Enron established a major change in the company’s operations by making the “move from being a domestic company to a global provider of energy products.” (History of the Workplace, 2003) This will only create more opportunity for Enron to develop and in the mid and late 1990s, “further expansion of Enron’s activities continued, including a shift from a company based in physical energy assets to a provider of broader services, such as risk management, communications, and financial services.” (History of the Workplace, 2003) The three men associated with the downfall of Enron include Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey K. Skilling, and Andrew S. Fastow. Kenneth Lay was the founder, and chief executive officer of Enron Corporation. Jeffrey K. Skilling was hired by Kenneth Lay as the replacement CEO, however, Skilling shortly resigned after “Enron shattered into scandal” (CBS News, 2006). Andrew Fastow was the chief financial officer for Enron. “Fastow was the chief financial officer who, according to documents, engineered many partnerships that eventually landed Enron...
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