Enron, the notorious Texas energy company the collapsed after one of the largest corporate frauds in US history, resurfaced Monday — as part of an elaborate prank by the brand’s new owner.
“We’re back. Can we talk?” blared a promotional video baring Enron’s logo that was posted to X on the 23rd anniversary of the company filing for bankruptcy.
“In the modern world, you must accept change is the only constant. Learn how to adapt. Forgive,” the video said. “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 beach, a boxer sparring in the ring and a farmer working in the fields — turned out to be a parody backed by a T-shirt company.
Trademark documents show an Arkansas-based LLC called The College Company bought the Enron trademark for $275 in 2020.
The College Company’s co-founder, Connor Gaydos, also created Birds Aren’t Real along with Peter McIndoe. The mock conspiracy theory suggests birds are drones created by the government as surveillance tools — a joke that pokes fun at conspiracy theories themselves, and sells tons of “Birds Aren’t Real”-branded T-shirts to Gen Zers.
CNN first reported Enron’s new owners.
Enron did not comment on an inquiry about its current owners, though a certificate of incorporation for Enron Corporation obtained by The Post was filed earlier this year in Delaware.
Reddit users were quick to speculate that the new Enron’s marketing efforts – including a billboard in Houston, Texas, where the original company was headquartered – are a lead-up to an Enron crypto token.
In a press release, the company hinted at its future involvement in cryptocurrency, touting “permissionless innovation” as one of its key pillars moving forward.
“Decentralized technology is advancing, and we will of course have a role to play in its future,” the company said in a statement.
A seven-day-long banner on the Enron website counts down to the seconds on a “very special” announcement due next week.
For now, the scheme is an elaborate prank to sell Enron-branded T-shirts, sweatshirts, “Dad hats” and water bottles from the shiny new Enron website.
The new Enron is certainly leaning into the company name’s scandalous history, listing one of 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 company said.
Enron’s infamous collapse in 2001 led to executives, including Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, getting prosecuted for fraud-related crimes. An independent review published in 2002 revealed how they had pocketed millions from off-the-book schemes and lied to shareholders about the company’s profits.
Lay died of a heart attack in 2006 while he was awaiting sentencing. Skilling was released from federal custody in 2019 after serving 12 years in prison for conspiracy, insider trading, making false statements to auditors and securities fraud.
Enron had also encouraged its employees to invest in the company stock just before it went belly-up, causing some workers to lose not only their jobs, but their life’s savings. The workers later won $85 million in a class action settlement.
Trouble began to brew at Enron in August 2001, when Sharron Watkins, then a vice president at the company, discovered the accounting scandal and told Lay, then Enron’s chief executive.
In October of that year, Enron reported a massive third-quarter loss of $618 million and revealed it had been inflating its earnings since 1997. Later that month, the company disclosed it was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The next month, the company announced a $9 billion acquisition by Dynegy, a rival energy firm. But weeks later, Dynegy said it had terminated the talks.
Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the end of the year and by January 2002, the US Department of Justice had opened a criminal investigation into Enron’s demise.
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