Enron, the infamous Texas vitality firm the collapsed after one of many largest company frauds in US historical past, resurfaced Monday — as a part of an elaborate prank by the model’s new proprietor.
“We’re back. Can we talk?” blared a promotional video baring Enron’s brand that was posted to X on the twenty third anniversary of the corporate submitting for chapter.
“In the modern world, you must accept change is the only constant. Learn how to adapt. Forgive,” the video stated. “To allow change to happen in the world and within ourselves. We understand this better than anyone and we’re here to lead by example.”
The video — which featured a ballerina dancing on the seaside, a boxer sparring within the ring and a farmer working within the fields — turned out to be a parody backed by a T-shirt firm.
Trademark paperwork present an Arkansas-based LLC referred to as The Faculty Firm purchased the Enron trademark for $275 in 2020.
The Faculty Firm’s co-founder, Connor Gaydos, additionally created Birds Aren’t Actual together with Peter McIndoe. The mock conspiracy concept suggests birds are drones created by the federal government as surveillance instruments — a joke that pokes enjoyable at conspiracy theories themselves, and sells tons of “Birds Aren’t Real”-branded T-shirts to Gen Zers.
CNN first reported Enron’s new house owners.
Enron didn’t touch upon an inquiry about its present house owners, although a certificates of incorporation for Enron Company obtained by The Publish was filed earlier this yr in Delaware.
Reddit customers had been fast to take a position that the brand new Enron’s advertising efforts – together with a billboard in Houston, Texas, the place the unique firm was headquartered – are a lead-up to an Enron crypto token.
In a press launch, the corporate hinted at its future involvement in cryptocurrency, touting “permissionless innovation” as one among its key pillars shifting ahead.
“Decentralized technology is advancing, and we will of course have a role to play in its future,” the corporate stated in a press release.
A seven-day-long banner on the Enron web site counts right down to the seconds on a “very special” announcement due subsequent week.
For now, the scheme is an elaborate prank to promote Enron-branded T-shirts, sweatshirts, “Dad hats” and water bottles from the shiny new Enron web site.
The brand new Enron is definitely leaning into the corporate identify’s scandalous historical past, itemizing one among its core values as “repentant.”
“Acknowledging and taking responsibility for past mistakes isn’t merely for show – it reflects our commitment to ethical practices moving forward,” the corporate stated.
Enron’s notorious collapse in 2001 led to executives, together with Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, getting prosecuted for fraud-related crimes. An unbiased evaluate revealed in 2002 revealed how that they had pocketed hundreds of thousands from off-the-book schemes and lied to shareholders concerning the firm’s earnings.
Lay died of a coronary heart assault in 2006 whereas he was awaiting sentencing. Skilling was launched from federal custody in 2019 after serving 12 years in jail for conspiracy, insider buying and selling, making false statements to auditors and securities fraud.
Enron had additionally inspired its staff to spend money on the corporate inventory simply earlier than it went belly-up, inflicting some employees to lose not solely their jobs, however their life’s financial savings. The employees later gained $85 million in a category motion settlement.
Bother started to brew at Enron in August 2001, when Sharron Watkins, then a vice chairman on the firm, found the accounting scandal and informed Lay, then Enron’s chief government.
In October of that yr, Enron reported an enormous third-quarter lack of $618 million and revealed it had been inflating its earnings since 1997. Later that month, the corporate disclosed it was underneath investigation by the Securities and Change Fee.
The following month, the corporate introduced a $9 billion acquisition by Dynegy, a rival vitality agency. However weeks later, Dynegy stated it had terminated the talks.
Enron filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety on the finish of the yr and by January 2002, the US Division of Justice had opened a felony investigation into Enron’s demise.
