The Rise and Fall of Enron

1990

1985

Enron was born from the merger of Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, a Nebraska pipeline company

A federal deregulation of natural gas pipelines deprived Enron of an exclusive right to the company which pushed them to seek for a new business strategy

Enron hired Jeffrey Skilling as a consultant who eventually proposed the concept of "Gas Banks"

Enron introduced a new division, Enron Finance Corp., that was headed by Skilling

Skilling hired Andrew Fastow who then became Skilling's protg

1998

Fastow was promoted to CFO

As Enron's reputation grew, the company's internal culture began to take a darker tone

Skilling instituted a Professional Review Committee (PRC) which became known as the harshest employee ranking system in the country

PRC promoted a tight internal competition which resulted to having restrictive confidentiality clauses on trading contracts

1996

Skilling became Enron's Chief Operating Officer

Skilling then sold the concept of gas banks to the heads of power companies and to energy regulators as new investment opportunities were opening up everywhere, including markets in energy

1997

Enron acquired Portland General Electric Corporation, an electric utility company

Skilling developed Enron Capital and Trade Resources which eventually became the nation's largest wholesale buyer and seller of natural gas and electricity

1999

EOL was perhaps the most anticipated development of Enron because of mainly two reasons

traders received valuable information regarding the long and short parties to each trade as well as product prices in real-time

traders believed that Enron provided a safe transaction environment

2000

Enron built as high-speed broadband telecommunications network

The stock of Enron hit an all-time high of $90.56 and was named as one of the most admired and innovative companies in the world

Enron Online was created

Enron's competitive advantage began to erode with market's new entrants successes

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