Mark Norris/Houston Public Media
There are extra questions than solutions after a multiplatform blitz on Monday heralded the return of an organization that haunts town of Houston a long time after its infamous collapse.
A minimum of one billboard, a full-page advert within the Houston Chronicle and a brand new web site promoted Enron. Sure, the power firm that’s now utilized in college school rooms nationwide as the instance of company malfeasance is seemingly again from the useless.
The query is who’s doing it and what is the cause.
In the meanwhile, a paper path connects the brand new Enron to an organization recognized for on-line jokes and merch gross sales.
The Faculty Firm owns the rights to the Enron trademark. The corporate is co-founded by Connor Gaydos and Peter McIndoe. The 2 are most recognized for his or her “Birds Aren’t Actual” mock-conspiracy that generated tens of 1000’s of memes and promoting some merchandise.
Is Enron their subsequent meme generator or is one thing else attainable?
A press launch on the web site was stuffed with generic company communicate, however promised a “relaunch as an organization devoted to fixing the worldwide power disaster.”
A now-deleted video on Twitter/X teased a cryptocurrency providing.
However what you are able to do on the web site is purchase some merch. Hoodies, T-shirts, water bottles and stickers are among the many choices.
Enron’s cooking of the books, most notably it is “mark-to-market accounting,” triggered a large fallout when the corporate fell aside in 2001.
CEO Jeff Skilling and Chairman Ken Lay have been convicted on conspiracy and fraud fees. Skilling served 12 years whereas Lay died earlier than sentencing. CFO Andy Fastow obtained six years in jail.
Auditing agency Arthur Anderson dissolved after its position within the scheme was revealed.
Regardless of a number of lawsuits, most Enron workers misplaced almost all their 401k retirement funds linked to the corporate’s inventory.
The federal authorities responded to the collapse with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. It was handed in 2002 as part of reform efforts to forestall future wrongdoing.
