# Enron? Really? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 8, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362 "2024-12-08T21:22:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/1 "2024-12-08T21:22:12Z")
This ad ran on the back page of today’s (12/8/24) Sunday NYT [[Album] Enron newspaper ad ![](https://i.imgur.com/ExqstEx.jpeg?fb "Enron newspaper ad") ](https://imgur.com/a/Tbi2zo4) Is this a new company that purchased the rights to the Enron name? Has Enron been a going concern all these years since the [Enron Scandal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal) in 2001? In what world does the name Enron have any appeal or cache"? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/2 "2024-12-08T21:26:01Z")
There’s a really simple way to resolve this. Wonder what it is? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/3 "2024-12-08T21:28:20Z")
It’s a parody. > **[Enron went bankrupt 23 years ago. Pranksters have seemingly relaunched brand...](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2024/12/03/enron-back-relaunch-parody-website/76727318007/)** > > One of the guys behind the satirical "Birds Aren't Real" conspiracy theory appears to be involved in the Enron "relaunch." ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/4 "2024-12-08T21:29:06Z")
From the “Terms of Use and Conditions of Sale” on the website: > THE INFORMATION ON THE WEBSITE IS FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTED PARODY, REPRESENTS PERFORMANCE ART, AND IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/5 "2024-12-08T22:07:44Z")
> [@2\_More\_Bits](#): > > In what world does the name Enron have any appeal or cache"? Next up: “TheranosTwo: Back In Black (Turtleneck) And Out For Blood!” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/6 "2024-12-08T22:25:18Z")
My cousin joined Enron around 6 months before they imploded. Most people go “Oh, that’s too bad.” But she was incredibly lucky - she only lost her job, compared to the thousands of people who lost their retirement. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/7 "2024-12-08T22:36:49Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > My cousin joined Enron around 6 months before they imploded. MY cousin’s utility company was owned by Enron, who applied considerable pressure on employees to buy their stock. He fell for the pitch (although his wife refused to go along with it) and invested half of all their liquid cash in the company. Lost it all, of course, so instead of retiring in a couple of years, he had to continue working well into his sixties or longer. She divorced him. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/8 "2024-12-08T22:38:10Z")
I was having lunch on the patio of a restaurant “down valley” from Aspen, Colorado with my ex-girlfriend and her then current boyfriend. A few minutes after we sat down, Dave (the boyfriend) turned crimson. He started breathing hard and almost couldn’t talk. [**Ken Lay**](https://www.aspendailynews.com/kenneth-lay-enron-founder-dies-in-aspen/article_2b6f30ca-d1d4-5396-a53e-ca661b935553.html) had sat down at the table next to ours. Dave quietly explained that his (Dave’s) father had lost a huge amount of money in Enron and that – if we didn’t immediately exit the restaurant – Dave was concerned that he might do great bodily harm to Lay right then and there. Along with everything else that Ken Lay did, then, he _totally_ screwed me out of a notoriously great [**lunch**](https://woodycreektavern.com/#menu). And … sonofagun … this ties it all together elegantly: > **[Enron was a parody of itself](https://www.businessblunders.com/p/enron-was-a-parody-of-itself)** > > Here's where CEO Ken Lay ate before he died It’s entirely possible that the meal referenced in the article refers to the day we were all there. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/9 "2024-12-09T15:35:08Z")
Where was Dave later that day? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/10 "2024-12-09T15:53:59Z")
Ha! Good question. My indistinct memory is of him saying that he had to catch a flight later that evening, but that he had time to kill before then 😉 [Dear law enforcement: that’s absolutely a joke and has no basis whatsoever in facts or actual events] ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/11 "2024-12-09T16:18:34Z")
If anyone wants to see a blow-by-blow account of the Enron scandal, I refer you to this excellent documentary. > **[Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) ⭐ 7.6 | Documentary, Biography,...](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016268/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1)** > > 1h 50m | R It won a boatload of awards and was nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar in 2006. > **[Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) - Awards - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016268/awards/?ref_=tt_awd)** > > Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) - Awards, nominations, and wins When I saw it in 2005 it curled my hair and boggled my mind, but in light of recent tricks, lies, scams, and skulduggery in the news, it might not have the same impact. Still worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/12 "2024-12-09T16:25:49Z")
It’s absolutely still worth watching - and it’s the perfect example of why people shouldn’t be overly invested in a single company, regardless of well it’s performed. Risk doesn’t stack linearly - it stacks exponentially. Diversify!!! ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/13 "2024-12-09T16:34:42Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > it might not have the same impact. Still worth watching. But it’s a solid piece of evidence showing them deliberately making people’s lives difficult for no reason other than to line their pockets. Faking energy shortages (rolling blackouts) to drive up rates, is, at best, being a piece of shit, at worst, people may have\* died because of what they did. \*no idea if anyone did, but it seems plausible. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/14 "2024-12-09T16:42:20Z")
We have Harvard Business School to thank for educating them in the best ways to make money by screwing people over and cheating. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/15 "2024-12-09T16:53:22Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > …for no reason other than to line their pockets… That was certainly the primary reason. And the secondary reason was equally disgusting: for _sport_, i.e., because they could. 😠 ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/16 "2024-12-10T16:48:37Z")
That’s an excellent documentary. Worth watching again. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/17 "2024-12-10T16:53:48Z")
Somebody told me they put up one of those billboards in downtown Houston. Some people thought it was for real. I’ll admit I was flabbergasted. I couldn’t imagine anybody would have the brass balls to try resurrecting Enron in this town until looking it up. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/18 "2024-12-10T17:17:19Z")
One of the executives at the company I worked for went to Enron as one of its execs. He hadn’t been with our company long (maybe 3 years?), so nobody missed him. But I had the “honor” of sitting at his table at one of our management banquets, and I thought he was a total creep (he drank too much and let his hair down also a bit too much). I wasn’t surprised the whole operation turned out to be essentially a scam. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/19 "2024-12-17T11:47:29Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > If anyone wants to see a blow-by-blow account of the Enron scandal, I refer you to this excellent documentary. > > [Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016268/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1) > > It won a boatload of awards and was nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar in 2006. > [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016268/awards/?ref\_=tt\_awd](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016268/awards/?ref_=tt_awd) > > When I saw it in 2005 it curled my hair and boggled my mind, but in light of recent tricks, lies, scams, and skulduggery in the news, it might not have the same impact. Still worth watching. My wife (who you’ve met) and I watched it again last night. It is still a gripping story. Oh, the arrogance and greed of man (people)… ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362/20 "2024-12-17T12:13:43Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > It’s absolutely still worth watching - and it’s the perfect example of why people shouldn’t be overly invested in a single company, regardless of well it’s performed. Risk doesn’t stack linearly - it stacks exponentially. Diversify!!! > [@](#): > > Behold, the fool saith, “Put not all thine eggs in the one basket”—which is but a manner of saying, “Scatter your money and your attention;” but the wise man saith, “Put all your eggs in the one basket and—watch that basket”_—Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar._ \*said to have been inspired by advice from Andrew Carnegie. \*\*not calling Munch a fool. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enron-really/1011362.md?page=2)