Enron Corporation

The Jolly Contrarian’s Glossary The snippy guide to financial services lingo.™ Go Premium Index — Click the ᐅ to expand: Glossary Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Requests? Insults? We’d love to 📧 hear from you. Sign up for our newsletter.

One of the great, bestest corporate scandals of them all, because — with the exception of a couple of short-sellers and a determined junior journalist (step forward the awesome Bethany McLean) — no-one saw this coming.

So when, freshly bruised by the latest dumpster fire, you compile and update your risk taxonomy to be prepared for the next one, consider how everyone missed Enron. It isn’t like they missed the red flags. They were all there in plain sight. They just didn’t think they were red flags.

With a hat-tip to the You’re wrong about... podcast, consider this Enron-lionising piece from the Houston Chronicle datelined 15 April 2001: https://www.chron.com/business/article/Enron-Making-of-the-Market-maker-2013245.php

See also

• Enron ron