Investopedia

Continue to Site »

Enron

Filed Under » , , , , , , ,
Dictionary Says

Definition of 'Enron'

A U.S. energy-trading and utilities company that housed one of the biggest accounting frauds in history. Enron's executives employed accounting practices that falsely inflated the company's revenues, which, at the height of the scandal, made the firm become the seventh largest corporation in the United States. Once the fraud came to light, the company quickly unraveled and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Dec. 2, 2001.
Investopedia Says

Investopedia explains 'Enron'

Enron shares traded as high as $85 before the fraud was discovered, but plummeted to $0.30 in the sell-off after the fraud was revealed. Shareholders received company payouts as compensation for their losses, but former company executives also settled to pay shareholders out of their own pockets. Enron was the first big-name account scandal, but it was soon followed by the uncovering of frauds at other companies such as WorldCom and Tyco International, and has become a symbol of modern corporate crime.

Articles Of Interest

  1.

    Ethical Issues For Financial Advisors

    Learn what to do when that devil on your shoulder begins to whisper.

  2. The Biggest Stock Scams Of All Time

    Where there is money, there are swindlers. Protect yourself by learning how investors have been betrayed in the past.

  3. Top 8 Ways Companies Cook The Books

    Find out more about the fraudulent accounting methods some companies use to fool investors.

  4. The Ghouls And Monsters On Wall Street

    Learn about some of the creepiest cases of fraud and the characters behind them.

  5. 5 Lessons From The World's Biggest Bankruptcies

    We can learn of investing strategies by studying previous financial disasters.

  6. Solutions For Concentrated Positions

    Learn various tactics for divesting your overexposure to any one stock.

  7. Business Owners: Avoid Enron-esque Retirement Plans

    If your business administers a retirement plan, you should recognize what's at stake.

  8. What was the Mahonia company and why did it become the subject of a lawsuit?

    In 1992, J.P.Morgan went into the energy trading business by creating a venture company called Mahonia Limited. At least, that is how things appeared on paper. Mahonia was actually a type of ...

  9. Why did Tyco's financial statements attract the SEC's attention in 2002?

    Editor's Note: This information is accurate as of September 2008.Hot on the heels of the Enron bankruptcy, ominous rumblings began around Tyco. A manufacturing conglomerate that produces almost ...

  10. Playing The Sleuth In A Scandal Stock

    Learn the legwork involved in finding out whether your investment can weather a storm.
comments powered by Disqus
Marketplace
Hot Definitions

  1. Winner's Curse

    Because of incomplete information, emotions or any other number of factors regarding the item being auctioned, bidders can have a difficult time determining the item's intrinsic value. As a result, the largest overestimation of an item's value ends up winning the auction.

  2. Glocalization

    A combination of the words "globalization" and "localization" used to describe a product or service that is developed and distributed globally, but is also fashioned to accommodate the user or consumer in a local market.

  3. Disaster Loss

    A special type of tax-deductible loss, similar to a casualty loss, where a loss has been incurred by taxpayers who reside in an area that has been designated as a federal disaster area by the President.

  4. Fool In The Shower

    The notion that changes or policies designed to alter the course of the economy should be done slowly, rather than all at once.

  5. Pattern Day Trader

    An SEC designation for traders who trade the same security four or more times per day (buys and sells) over a five-day period, and for whom same-day trades make up at least 6% of their activity for that period.

  6. Cost-Push Inflation

    A phenomenon in which the general price levels rise (inflation) due to increases in the cost of wages and raw materials.
Trading Center