ENRON CORPORATION
Enron is probably without a doubt the most talked about collapse in recent years. When Enron filed for bankruptcy in December of 2002, thousands of people lost their jobs and life-savings. The financial breakdown was marked by fraud. Lawsuits, still to this day are going through, while some convictions of former Enron executives and associates have already occurred.
Enron began its business in 1985. It began as a company that shipped natural gas through pipelines. Its role changed rather quickly, as it became one of the nation's dominant energy traders. As the company grew in size, power, and reputation, Enron proceeded to engage in more complicated contracts and undertakings. Alleged illegal, off-the-balance-sheet transactions and partnerships were helping to conceal Enron's growing debt problem. By the time investors, employees, and the public learned of the company's crisis, the downward spiral was nearly unstoppable.
Insiders and high-level executives at Enron knew all along about the company's financial secrets for quite some time. In August of 2001, former VP for Corporate Development Sherron Watkins warned Enron's CEO of impending financial problems based on a "a wave of accounting scandals." Two months after, in October, Enron officials announced that the company was actually worth $1.2 billion less than had previously been reported. This difference was due to inflated estimates of income and failure to include all the company's debts in reports to the investors. It wasn't until December that Enron filed for bankruptcy along with various questions and accusations. Enron's top managers and its ac ...