The Rise and Fall of Enron Updated April 26, 2002

In December 2001, Enron filed the biggest bankruptcy protection case in US history. Ten congressional committees and federal agencies have announced investigations into suspected illegal activities at the once high-flying firm. Enron’s swift rise in 10 years was powered by the deregulation of energy markets in the 1990s. Good political connections and publicity ensured a favourable legislative climate.

Enron’s methods accumulated fantastic wealth in the hands of top executives who sold their stock before the company went bust. Thousands of other employees, trapped in a lock-stock arrangement, lost their savings and pensions. In a hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on April 11, Californian authorities have charged that Enron Corporation’s manipulation of the energy market was at the root of the state’s energy crisis last year

• Hearings reveal Enron at center of California energy crisis
• W.’s First Enron Connection: Update on the Bush-Enron Oil Deal
• The Enron-Cheney-Taliban Connection?
• The Enron collapse and the crisis of the profit system
• Crony capitalism, US-style
• Enron and the Bushes
• Enron–Explained
• Firms Face demand for openness
• Enron and the role of the banks
• Timeline of Enron’s Collapse
• A Crooked Company
• Share and Share Alike
• Cheney lobbied India on Enron’s behalf
• Big Five quake as Andersen faces doomsday scenario
• How Offshore Havens Helped Enron Escape Taxes
• A bubble that no one wanted to pop