Enron's Demise-Were There Warning Signs?

The collapse of Enron will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the most notorious corporate scandals in the twentieth century. Enron's employees lost billions of dollars in retirement savings tied up in Enron as stock became worthless. The rise and fall of Enron was marked by inflated earnings and substantial amounts of hidden debt, enabled by the use of special purpose entities, the application of unethical accounting techniques, and an unquestioning board of directors. The transformation of Enron from a mundane natural gas transportation company into a financial trading empire, with operations in natural gas, water, broadband, electricity, power plants, and exotic derivatives, was masterminded by Jeffrey Skilling, one-time chief executive officer, and Andrew Fastow, the company's chief financial officer. In the aftermath of the company's collapse, the U.S. Congress enacted sweeping changes to corporate governance. But why did Enron's collapse take the financial community by complete surprise? Were there any warning signs that Enron was not as financially solid as it appeared? The case examines these issues using data from Enron's 2000 10-K and Compustat data for 1984-2000.