Enron: One of the Largest Scandals of the Twentieth Century
Angelica Winton Business 100 02/17/13
Enron: One of the Largest Scandals of the Twentieth Century
Would you defraud millions of people and steal billions of dollars from them? The very idea likely makes your skin crawl. And yet, that is exactly what Enron, a massive power company did for many years. We shall see how their insatiable greed and lust for power was the cause of their downfall and ultimate ruin. Enron prided themselves on being ''the smartest guys in the room.'' The company was determined to be at the top of the industry. Enron's president and CEO, Jeffrey Skilling, was a man with big ideas. He believed that ''money is the only thing that motivates people.'' He held to Darwin's theory ''survival of the fittest.'' This influenced him to lead Enron in a very competitive and aggressive direction. Skilling identified strongly with the company image; which he wanted to be one of power and influence. He often took company trips; which became an icon due to their dangerous, exciting, and highly perilous nature. Enron used future projections to make the business look successful, while the opposite was true. While Enron's stocks reportedly kept rising in value; the company was losing money, not making a profit. Andy Fastow, a CFO at Enron, came up with the clever idea of hiding Enron's debt in his own companies. While making Enron's stocks look better than ever; he also managed to secure a tidy sum for himself; about forty-five million dollars. Fastow was the one person who was primarily responsible for maintaining the company's superstar image. But cashing in on phony stock markets was not the only way Enron sucked the public pocket dry. The historically-unprecedented energy shortages of 2000 – 2001 were no accident. Enron discovered that by purposely shutting down power plants; the ensuing power shortages enabled them to raise prices for supplying electrical power. The chaos and problems caused by their unethical and unbelievably
Enron: One of the Largest Scandals of the Twentieth Century
Would you defraud millions of people and steal billions of dollars from them? The very idea likely makes your skin crawl. And yet, that is exactly what Enron, a massive power company did for many years. We shall see how their insatiable greed and lust for power was the cause of their downfall and ultimate ruin. Enron prided themselves on being ''the smartest guys in the room.'' The company was determined to be at the top of the industry. Enron's president and CEO, Jeffrey Skilling, was a man with big ideas. He believed that ''money is the only thing that motivates people.'' He held to Darwin's theory ''survival of the fittest.'' This influenced him to lead Enron in a very competitive and aggressive direction. Skilling identified strongly with the company image; which he wanted to be one of power and influence. He often took company trips; which became an icon due to their dangerous, exciting, and highly perilous nature. Enron used future projections to make the business look successful, while the opposite was true. While Enron's stocks reportedly kept rising in value; the company was losing money, not making a profit. Andy Fastow, a CFO at Enron, came up with the clever idea of hiding Enron's debt in his own companies. While making Enron's stocks look better than ever; he also managed to secure a tidy sum for himself; about forty-five million dollars. Fastow was the one person who was primarily responsible for maintaining the company's superstar image. But cashing in on phony stock markets was not the only way Enron sucked the public pocket dry. The historically-unprecedented energy shortages of 2000 – 2001 were no accident. Enron discovered that by purposely shutting down power plants; the ensuing power shortages enabled them to raise prices for supplying electrical power. The chaos and problems caused by their unethical and unbelievably