An elaborate prank is seemingly bidding to resurrect the disgraced former United States energy giant Enron Corp., and it has even hinted at launching a crypto token.
On Dec. 2 — 23 years after the firm filed for bankruptcy after years of accounting fraud caught up to it — a company representing itself as Enron announced it was relaunching as a “company dedicated to solving the global energy crisis” in a post on X.
The revived Enron also advertised on at least one billboard in Houston, Texas, where the old Enron was headquartered, and took out a full-page advert in the Houston Chronicle, according to reports.
In a since-deleted X post, the new Enron hinted that it would launch a crypto token, “We do not have any token or coin (yet). Stay tuned, we are excited to show you more soon.”
Enron’s now-deleted X post hinting at a crypto token launch. Source: Ben Gillin
In a section of prank Enron’s website — which uses the domain name the old energy giant — it reads:
“The information on the website is first amendment protected parody, represents performance art, and is for entertainment purposes only.”
The Enron trademark is owned by an Arkansas firm called College Company, and one of the company’s co-founders, Connor Gaydos, is known for being behind the joke “birds’ aren’t real” conspiracy theory, Axios reported.
The firm’s former employees are not amused with Diana Peters, who represented workers in the firm’s bankruptcy proceedings, told ABC News on Dec. 4 that “it’s a pretty sick joke, and it disparages the people that did work there.”
“Why would you want to even bring it back up again?”
“If it’s a joke, it’s rude, extremely rude. And I hope that they realize it and apologize to all of the Enron employees,” she said before adding “I lost everything in Enron, and so my Social Security doesn’t always take care of things I need done.”
Meanwhile, Enron’s former vice president of corporate development, Sherron Watkins, told ABC News she didn’t have a problem with it because comedy “usually helps us focus on an uncomfortable historical event that we’d rather ignore.”
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In the 1990s, Enron executives used elaborate accounting techniques to hide billions of dollars in debt from failed deals and projects. They created hundreds of special purpose entities and offshore companies to move debt off Enron’s balance sheets, making the company appear more profitable than it actually was.
In late 2001, the truth began to unravel when the company was forced to disclose massive financial losses and restate its earnings, resulting in a collapse in investor confidence.
Enron’s stock price plummeted, and the firm filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 2, 2001, which at the time was the largest bankruptcy in US history, with more than 20,000 employees losing their jobs.
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