The Sudden Collapse of Enron - The Full Story | Greed, Lies, and Idiocy | History in the Dark

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  • Опубліковано 7 сер 2024
  • Enron was an energy company specializing in natural gas. Overtime, they branched out into other avenues and became one of the most successful companies in the world. However, not all was as it seemed. Secretly, Enron had been hiding financial losses using sketchy accounting and illegal practices to inflate their own stock price. Eventually, this all came crashing down and became the largest bankruptcy in American history at the time.
    0:00 - Intro
    1:25 - Formation
    7:46 - Too Good to be True
    10:30 - Revenue Recognition
    15:22 - Mark-to-market
    18:24 - Mismanagement
    21:44 - Special purpose entities
    25:53 - Too Many Bad Deals
    30:03 - Loopholes
    36:16 - The Cracks Start to Show
    42:56 - The Descent Begins
    47:15 - The Collapse
    53:35 - The Fallout
    "Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 20,600 staff and was a major electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper company, with claimed revenues of nearly $101 billion during 2000. Fortune named Enron "America's Most Innovative Company" for six consecutive years."
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    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_s...
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    #history #truestory #documentary

КОМЕНТАРІ • 126

  • @ricardoluis1622
    @ricardoluis1622 Рік тому +191

    Something went EnWrong

  • @elongatedpikachu4029
    @elongatedpikachu4029 9 місяців тому +73

    What bothers me about all of these scandals is that the agencies that are supposed to regulate them miss the entire scheme despite being told multiple times. There’s usually one fall guy and people forget.

    • @ShermTank7272
      @ShermTank7272 8 місяців тому +4

      Not like the public is helpful with that, really. People just want someone they can throw tomatoes at in the town stockade for a few days and quickly lose interest afterwards

    • @eza_ahm
      @eza_ahm 4 місяці тому +1

      I’ve a major in corporate finance and a trading experience of more than a decade. There are dozens of enrons even today in the market. Once shit hits the fan, u will know some of them.

  • @Itried20takennames
    @Itried20takennames 9 місяців тому +79

    And one of the disgraced Enron executives had a kid….who was Elizabeth Holmes, and was CEO of the Theranos fraud company, and currently sitting in prison.

    • @akbarlebowitz8151
      @akbarlebowitz8151 8 місяців тому +7

      It's in the genes!!

    • @HVACSoldier
      @HVACSoldier 8 місяців тому +6

      Her father was a Vice President of Enron, according to Wikipedia.

    • @akbarlebowitz8151
      @akbarlebowitz8151 8 місяців тому

      Christian Rasmus Holmes IV@@HVACSoldier

    • @warweaponx6629
      @warweaponx6629 7 місяців тому +4

      He was a nobody. Middle management VP

    • @MisterTutor2010
      @MisterTutor2010 7 місяців тому

      She's a nepo baby of fraud :)

  • @badkittynomilktonight3334
    @badkittynomilktonight3334 Рік тому +47

    "Enron, the Smartest Guys in the Room" was the first movie that made me so angry I actually threw something at the TV. Everyone involved with Enron truly unbelievably all deserve to burn in Hell.

    • @raymondcaylor6292
      @raymondcaylor6292 8 місяців тому +3

      You're letting some of them off easy. 31 year PGE who retired in 1995 two year's before Enron bought his former company, a company that started in 1888, annual retirement amont went from $28,800 to $1,640 after it was found in Enron Bankruptcy that Enron had taken the cash out of the company's fully funded retirement trust accounts they received after merging and replaced it with Enron stock 11 months before bankruptcy. That deserves more than eternal damnation for an even swap.

    • @haruhisuzumiya6650
      @haruhisuzumiya6650 2 місяці тому

      The crooked E was a wonderful dramatization

  • @Gothrailfan_Crow
    @Gothrailfan_Crow Рік тому +49

    Fun fact: Enron’s accounting was done by the same firm that handled the numbers for Penn Central.

  • @MrCalverino
    @MrCalverino 10 місяців тому +13

    I used to pass their building on 1600 Smith St everyday... now Chevron occupies their buildings... those will always be the enron towers in my Houstonian eyes

  • @mrrootytooty5797
    @mrrootytooty5797 10 місяців тому +32

    I started off with an interest in theranos (i work for a science company and could see how arrogance, a shitty concept and failing testing could create a slippery slope!) And that drew me to the Enron story.
    What blew my mind about Enron was that period when they became involved in supplying maintenance services...it reminded me so much of the company i work for now- "well, we're REALLY shit at it, and we are really unreliable, and we arent interested in it, and theres no margin...BUT IF WE DO IT IT WILL BE AN AUTOMATIC SUCCESS BECAUSE WE ARE SO SMART"
    with absolutely no eye on delivery. Just announcements.
    Anyway, that got me into the story of Deutsch bank, the 2008 collapse, Wirecard, the big short, the RJR Norbisco LBO....etc etc
    All my reading now is corporate fraud and investment banking 😂

  • @donavonkern7838
    @donavonkern7838 Рік тому +15

    We learned about this in my accounting classes in high school, so this is a nice refresher/ nostalgia trip.

  • @michaelimbesi2314
    @michaelimbesi2314 Рік тому +15

    What happened to the guy who read the article, figured out what was happening, and shorted Enron’s stock?

    • @HistoryintheDark
      @HistoryintheDark  Рік тому +11

      He’s still a very successful short-seller.

    • @warweaponx6629
      @warweaponx6629 7 місяців тому +2

      Jim Chanos. He’s had a very successful career though he lost big in recent years shorting Tesla

  • @JamesAllmond
    @JamesAllmond Рік тому +10

    Uh, I was supposed to go BACK to MCI from TBS, when TBS got rid of their Mainframe. I was a SAS programmer at the time. MCI used a lot of SAS back then. TBS talked me into staying, to move into the client-server world. 6 months later Enron (who bought MCI) collapsed... Probably the best career move I didn't make!

  • @anzaca1
    @anzaca1 Рік тому +20

    12:44 A better example might be buying a brand-new car. You likely won't immediately take ownership of the car, especially if you have selected some optional extras. But you know you will be receiving the car at a later date. The car is thus an accrued asset.

  • @mssuxmyass
    @mssuxmyass Рік тому +13

    Excellent video! (Long Format works for you!) This is a story I knew of at the time... but being 15 or so had other things to worry about, I never really bothered to take a look back. So now with your help I have, Thanks Darkness, great explanation and video!

    • @jonahfalcon1970
      @jonahfalcon1970 9 місяців тому +1

      Watch "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room".

  • @fnstation
    @fnstation 8 місяців тому +3

    this is a REALLY GOOD VIDEO u were really informative and i feel like i learned loads. super engaging!!! love love love

  • @michaelmoses8745
    @michaelmoses8745 Рік тому +8

    I can't help but wonder what John Ray would think of this video. I personally am very impressed.

  • @raymondcaylor6292
    @raymondcaylor6292 8 місяців тому +6

    One of my stupid buys. I bought 1000 shares at $2.10 thinking surely they owned infrastructure or rights someone would buy that would keep them out if Bankruptcy. Plus I also thought employees could borrow the money to stave off Bankruptcy to save their retirement accounts. But boy was I wrong, the company had already looted the company paid pension plan including the fully-funded retirement company paid trust accounts they got from PGE when they bought them in 1997. Although not black&white ledger provable they basically repaid 40% of acquisition costs with the retirement funds of the future retirees they inherited. 11 months before the collapse they issued Enron stock to replace the actual cash that was in those trust accounts. So, PGE employees already retired got zeroed out along with all the current vested employees. That was BRUTAL. Those ENRON crooks were some dirty dirty ba$turds.

    • @trashyraccoon2615
      @trashyraccoon2615 8 місяців тому

      They were very friendly with the Republicans too. Another bunch of crooks.

    • @samwise1790
      @samwise1790 7 місяців тому +1

      Part of Enron did actually continue on by getting spun off in bankruptcy and is still operating today (their actual oil and gas production arm), which is now EOG resources. EOG of course stands for Enron Oil and Gas, however, unsurprisingly, for legal and image reasons, EOG doesnt actually stand for anything as an abbreviation. Currently valued at north of 70 billion, one of the largest shale drillers in NA.

    • @raymondcaylor6292
      @raymondcaylor6292 7 місяців тому

      Nothing was spun off from ENRON after they filed Bankruptcy only assets liquidated by the Court. ENRON shareholders never got a penny from stock ownership but owners of record did receive 2 seperate payments totaling 0.0635 per share from the 7.2 Billion dollars in class action fraud settlements.

  • @ciro356
    @ciro356 Рік тому +5

    In Italy in management courses is often paired as a case study with dairy giant Parmalat, which fun enough went bust in more or less the same years (early 2000s)

  • @citylimits8927
    @citylimits8927 10 місяців тому +7

    At 2:35, the reason that they decided against using the name “Enteron” was because enteron is the name of the digestive tract. Not exactly the sexy, powerful-sounding name that they were looking for. (Think waste products)

  • @CatherineLee-kt8ky
    @CatherineLee-kt8ky 5 місяців тому

    Found your channel and had to subscribe.Great content and I look forward to seeing more 😊

  • @MsCellobass
    @MsCellobass 9 місяців тому +4

    Wow you did a great job in explaining all that went wrong on this disastrous company!!

  • @Straswa
    @Straswa 2 місяці тому

    Great video Darkness. I remember hearing about Enron folding all those years ago, but I didn't realize the massive scope of it all.

  • @kukalakana
    @kukalakana 9 місяців тому +2

    The trading laws are boring, but the psychology of Enron's corporate culture is interesting.

  • @anzaca1
    @anzaca1 Рік тому +5

    Or as Barbara Dunkleman, English VA for Yang "RWBY" put it: "Something went En-wrong."

  • @shadychandelure2602
    @shadychandelure2602 Рік тому +1

    Brilliant video man
    Also for those who are a little more curious about this a channel called Company Man made a video about this a while which is also very good

  • @conspiretolie
    @conspiretolie 15 днів тому +1

    I was in Federal Prison with Fastow in Florence, Colorado and even though it was a "camp", with absolutely no stress between inmates, Andy was very skittish and kept very much too himself. He had 10 years to do and never knew if an inmate or worse a corrections officer would be coming along that personally, or had realatives, that lost money in the whole scandal. I was released soon after he got there so I don't know if he ever got too comfortable there, probably over time.

  • @robertwilloughby8050
    @robertwilloughby8050 Рік тому +14

    So, it's a smaller collapse, and it's in the UK.... But it's a doozy, and an excellent example of when your boss is dodgy, you're screwed. To be totally fair, by the end of it, you might even feel a little sorry for said boss, but only a little sorry. I give you the insurance company "Fire Auto and Marine" and the slow madness of Emil Savundra.

  • @foxmccloud7055
    @foxmccloud7055 9 місяців тому +2

    The Whammy- "I'd better file these important financial documents!"

  • @Doll.The.Solver
    @Doll.The.Solver Рік тому

    Finally this video has came out, after it was set to come out after pen central, and boi this video is awesome, I love it!

  • @whitetailfox1
    @whitetailfox1 Рік тому +2

    You need more long ones like this

  • @cudwieser3952
    @cudwieser3952 Рік тому +3

    Ever thought of doing a dive into John Blunt and the south sea fiasco? Makes Enron look like amateur hour XD

  • @Dragonblaster1
    @Dragonblaster1 8 місяців тому +2

    The reason they didn’t like name “Enteron” is that it is another name for the gut.

  • @paulr7547
    @paulr7547 Рік тому +3

    They should of named it, EndRun.

  • @petersan9633
    @petersan9633 9 місяців тому +2

    Guess they didn’t have the money to keep the energy on

  • @lg2058
    @lg2058 Місяць тому

    Great vid.

  • @Huskrrrr
    @Huskrrrr 9 місяців тому +2

    Don't piss off the money guys. SBF found this out.

  • @derekthelehighvalleyfoamer4427

    I’ve never seen you make a video this long before.

  • @jordanscherr6699
    @jordanscherr6699 7 місяців тому +1

    In a nutshell, okay growth just wasn't enough for the CEOs. So they got sneaky and reported wealth that they simply didn't actually have. When that started to unravel, they went down a convoluted road of deceit while never addressing the actual problem. By the time it was clear what that problem was to those outside upper management, it was far too late.

  • @oganvildevil
    @oganvildevil 8 місяців тому +1

    Ah, Texas justice. Lookin' at you Paxton

  • @YJRail
    @YJRail Рік тому +3

    57:03 Me personally, no, no he didn't get away with it. His punishment came at the right time, and it is eternal.

  • @godofsquirrels494
    @godofsquirrels494 4 місяці тому

    Always wanted to know what the was about as I’d been hearing about it for years. Also you kinda sound like an American version of Yamiks.

  • @FuzzImp
    @FuzzImp 8 місяців тому

    Reaches into my Doordashed bag of chips “even I am better at finance than Enron was”

  • @newwavex8665
    @newwavex8665 9 місяців тому +2

    God who the he'll approved that revenue realization thing. That just screams red flags for exploitation.

  • @kurtpena5462
    @kurtpena5462 Місяць тому

    Just realize that you are doing a HOUR on Enron! XD
    Get it down to twenty minutes, please.

  • @All-Inn-Fun
    @All-Inn-Fun 11 годин тому

    M. Yass might be the greatest thing I've ever heard.

  • @thomas3487
    @thomas3487 23 дні тому

    You lost me at SPE....😊 Very good video of how greed turns to corruption...

  • @lorumipsum1129
    @lorumipsum1129 Місяць тому

    Enron…. Weird name for a steam locomotive explosion (certainly felt like one when it fell anyway)

  • @nataanda2486
    @nataanda2486 7 місяців тому

    wunderbar gelesen, vielen dank!!!

  • @tommytran7607
    @tommytran7607 3 місяці тому

    love the sessions:vi bgm

  • @randylplampin1326
    @randylplampin1326 8 місяців тому +1

    0:06 Synonymous not anonymous.

  • @flashcar60
    @flashcar60 11 місяців тому

    Good job of sorting and presenting this tangled web of fraud and failure.

  • @catboyandwolfgirl4545
    @catboyandwolfgirl4545 Рік тому +1

    This is the longest video that Darkness has ever made

  • @warweaponx6629
    @warweaponx6629 7 місяців тому

    The thing is they weren’t hiding anything they were doing from any of the lawyers, accountants, banks, Board of Directors or any other entities overseeing them.

  • @warweaponx6629
    @warweaponx6629 7 місяців тому

    Look up Lou Pai. Hes an Enron executive that got away and only paid a small fine to the SEC. Small relative to the mountains of cash he ran off with.

  • @indyj16
    @indyj16 4 місяці тому

    listen to the audiobook Conspiracy of Fools by Kurt Eichenwald, it's like a John Grisham novel

  • @donutlordband24
    @donutlordband24 Рік тому +1

    Ken lay didn’t kill himself

  • @InkopolisCountyRailfanAC2023
    @InkopolisCountyRailfanAC2023 Рік тому +4

    Darkness the curse you should bring back Alfred E Perlman back for shorts
    # Bring back Alfred E Perlman
    # Bring Back I Want That Steam Engine
    # I Want That Steam Engine

  • @leonardjohnson6122
    @leonardjohnson6122 7 місяців тому

    I love it...30 day warrenty...you know Buck Knives offer a lifetime warranty....Sounds like you not to confident in your product 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

  • @MARYVODKA-tf1vf
    @MARYVODKA-tf1vf 18 днів тому

    What a story.

  • @michaelosgood9876
    @michaelosgood9876 Рік тому

    'The Three Crooks'. Plain & simple

  • @jamesanonymous2343
    @jamesanonymous2343 5 місяців тому

    THE ENRON SPELL BINDERS PLAYED FAST AND LOOSE WITH ""ACCOUNTING TRICKS

  • @jollyjohnthepirate3168
    @jollyjohnthepirate3168 Місяць тому

    It always amazed me that this scandal didn't take down the Bush administration. He was deeply conected to these con men, even riding around in their jet during the 2000 campaign. Phil Gram resigned as his wife was part of the management team.

  • @NATUREN3ST
    @NATUREN3ST 9 місяців тому +1

    FTX. Ask Why.

  • @lg2058
    @lg2058 Місяць тому

    With Fastow's finances I would've expected him to have a far better-looking wife.

  • @Doll.The.Solver
    @Doll.The.Solver Рік тому +1

    And wow, this is the first video you sweared in

    • @HistoryintheDark
      @HistoryintheDark  Рік тому

      Wait, I did? When?

    • @MRCSANY
      @MRCSANY Рік тому

      @@HistoryintheDarkProbably your mispronunciation of “partnerships” as “partnershits” at 24:41

  • @brinka7918
    @brinka7918 8 місяців тому

    he’s singing 🧍🏼‍♀️ bro we just met

  • @Simon-jj2pu
    @Simon-jj2pu 9 місяців тому

    Ernst and Young not Ernest and Young

  • @thiemtranthi7760
    @thiemtranthi7760 9 місяців тому

    Nguoi do dung la mantadevi armankhan johnson army ruoi dung la anh ay do

  • @CAPTAINSUNKBOI
    @CAPTAINSUNKBOI Рік тому

    Ngl I think you should talk about 9/11

  • @jamesanonymous2343
    @jamesanonymous2343 3 місяці тому

    STICK THIS VIDEO WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,GET IT ?????????????

  • @shannoncai2252
    @shannoncai2252 2 місяці тому

    Please stop putting so many adds. It’s annoying

  • @molitall
    @molitall 9 місяців тому

    Sorry, So many ads I couldn't stand it after 10 minutes so I bailed.

  • @julian1657
    @julian1657 8 місяців тому

    Enron der Sohn eines strichers

  • @mre1561
    @mre1561 5 місяців тому

    Pretty good aside that cringe ass humor

  • @GitzenShiggles
    @GitzenShiggles 9 місяців тому +3

    This is pennies compared to today's Democrats.

    • @hymnodyhands
      @hymnodyhands 9 місяців тому

      Apples and oranges, though... the Democrats aren't an energy company... these two things don't compare...

    • @jasonfuller2734
      @jasonfuller2734 8 місяців тому

      Lol. Republicans caused all of this but yeah, affordable college, affordable healthcare and living wages that the Democrats push are way more evil than this. You do you kiddo.

  • @mitchellsamman7962
    @mitchellsamman7962 Місяць тому

    Enough with the diverse reenactments.

  • @liketearsintherain832
    @liketearsintherain832 3 місяці тому

    Sad that the average Joe was left with nothing.

  • @tristanexists1806
    @tristanexists1806 Рік тому +6

    Finally, a company that isn't related to the railroad industry

    • @candycrushhater5828
      @candycrushhater5828 Рік тому +3

      Next time he does a non-railroad-related company, he should discuss Pan Am (an airline). Or Cannon Group (a film studio).

    • @tristanexists1806
      @tristanexists1806 Рік тому +4

      @candycrushhater5828 pal, does it look like i was born yesterday? Everyone knows what Pan Am is

    • @ohioandnortheastern
      @ohioandnortheastern Рік тому +2

      ​@@candycrushhater5828pan am railway

    • @candycrushhater5828
      @candycrushhater5828 Рік тому

      @@tristanexists1806 You don’t have to be so blunt about it. Jeez.

  • @cesarelocran
    @cesarelocran 3 місяці тому

    🇲🇽🛞🪞🧑‍💻