HOUSTON (AP) 鈥� An elaborate parody appears to be behind an effort to resurrect Enron, the Houston-based energy company that exemplified the worst in American corporate fraud and greed after it went bankrupt in 2001.
If its return is comedic, some who lost everything in Enron鈥檚 collapse aren鈥檛 laughing.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a pretty sick joke and it disparages the people that did work there. And why would you want to even bring it back up again?鈥� said former Enron employee Diana Peters, who represented workers in the company鈥檚 bankruptcy proceedings.
Here鈥檚 what to know about the history of Enron and the purported effort to bring it back.
What happened at Enron?
Once the nation鈥檚 seventh-largest company, Enron filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 2, 2001, after years of accounting tricks could no longer hide billions of dollars in debt or make failing ventures appear profitable. The energy company's collapse put more than 5,000 people out of work and wiped out more than $2 billion in employee pensions. Its aftershocks were felt throughout the energy sector.
Twenty-four , including , were convicted for their roles in the fraud. Enron founder Ken Lay鈥檚 convictions were vacated after he died of heart disease following his 2006 trial.
Is Enron coming back?
On Monday 鈥� the 23rd anniversary of the bankruptcy filing 鈥� a company representing itself as Enron announced in a news release it was relaunching as a 鈥渃ompany dedicated to solving the global energy crisis.鈥� It also posted a video on social media, advertised on at least one Houston billboard and a took out a full-page ad in the Houston Chronicle
In the minute-long video full of generic corporate jargon, the company talks about 鈥済rowth鈥� and 鈥渞ebirth.鈥� It ends with the words, 鈥淲e鈥檙e back. Can we talk?鈥�
In an email, company spokesperson Will Chabot said the new Enron was not doing any interviews yet, but "We鈥檒l have more to share soon.鈥�
Signs point to the comeback being a joke.
In the 鈥渢erms of use and conditions of sale鈥� on the company's website, it says 鈥渢he information on the website about Enron is First Amendment protected parody, represents performance art, and is for entertainment purposes only.鈥�
Documents filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show College Company, an Arkansas-based LLC, owns the Enron trademark. The co-founder of College Company is Connor Gaydos, who helped create a joke conspiracy theory claiming all birds are actually government surveillance drones.
What do former Enron employees think of the company鈥檚 return?
Peters said she and some other former employees are upset and think the relaunch was 鈥渋n poor taste.鈥�
鈥淚f it鈥檚 a joke, it鈥檚 rude, extremely rude. And I hope that they realize it and apologize to all of the Enron employees,鈥� Peters said.
Peters, 74, said she is still working in information technology because 鈥淚 lost everything in Enron, and so my Social Security doesn鈥檛 always take care of things I need done.鈥�
鈥淓nron鈥檚 downfall taught us critical lessons about corporate ethics, accountability, and the consequences of unchecked ambition. Enron鈥檚 legacy was the employees in the trenches. Leave Enron buried,鈥� she said.
But Sherron Watkins, Enron鈥檚 former vice president of corporate development and the main whistleblower who helped uncover the scandal, said she didn鈥檛 have a problem with the joke because comedy 鈥渦sually helps us focus on an uncomfortable historical event that we鈥檇 rather ignore.鈥�
鈥淚 think we use prior scandals to try to teach new generations what can go wrong with big companies,鈥� said Watkins, who still speaks at colleges and conferences about the Enron scandal.
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This story was corrected to fix the spelling of Ken Lay鈥檚 first name, which had been misspelled 鈥淜ey.鈥�
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Juan A. Lozano, The Associated Press
