In today's current day society, when the word "Enron" is mentioned, the first thought that comes out of people's minds is un-ethical, lack of leadership, and financially corrupt. These are the three reasons for which Enron fell apart in November of 2001. There have been numerous theories for why Enron had such a collapse, and all seem to be possible scenarios of why this Energy giant filed chapter 11, two months after the terrorist attacks on September 11th. .
The rise of Enron can date back to the early 1900's, when the city of Houston first struck Oil landfill. From this point on in history, the city of Houston would be known as the Oil Capital of the United States. As the Enron Corporation came about in 1985, after the merger took place, many were optimistic at the opportunity of investment. The corporation made its largest sum of money through buying and selling natural gas futures. When the word was finally out that Enron had been hiding profits in offshore accounts, the company's stock plummeted after the top executives had pulled out. After the stock is now worth a few cents and the employees had lost over $1.2 Billion in retirement funds, there is to be an investigation as to what went wrong! Just as Enron went down many would soon follow, such as the connection with Arthur Anderson, Tyco, and World Com. .
What must be examined here is the ethical responsibility that Enron broke in agreement with its stakeholders and within the company's guidelines of its mission statement. Why couldn't federal regulations prevent this from happening? Is this a legal matter, or an ethical one? What did trust mean to Ken May, CEO of Enron, and his employees? These are just several of the many questions that society is still pondering over the biggest bankruptcy to ever take place in corporate America. .
Energy analysts can all agree that without John Henry Kirby, Houston Natural Gas Corporation would have never existed.