Enron
Case Study On: “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”
Summary: This case is about Enron, once the seventh largest company in America. Enron traces its roots into the Northern Natural Gas Company, which was formed in 1932 in Omaha, Nebraska. It was reorganized in 1979 as the leading subsidiary of a holding company, InterNorth. In 1985, it bought the smaller Houston Natural Gas and changed its name to Enron in the process. Enron merged company initially named itself "HNG/InterNorth Inc.", even though InterNorth was the nominal survivor. It built a large headquarters complex in Omaha. However, the departure of ex-InterNorth CEO Samuel Segnar six months after the merger allowed former HNG CEO Kenneth Lay to become CEO of the newly merged company. Lay soon moved the headquaters of the company to Huston and began to rebrand the business. Enron Corporation mainly was one of the largest integrated natural gas and electricity companies in the world. It marketed natural gas liquids worldwide and operated one of the largest natural gas transmission systems in the world, totaling more than 36,000 miles. It was also one of the largest independent developers and producers of electricity in the world, serving both industrial and emerging markets. Enron was also a major supplier of solar and wind renewable energy worldwide, managed the largest portfolio of natural gas-related risk management contracts in the world, and was one of the world's biggest independent oil and gas exploration companies.
Jeffery Skilling worked with Enron in 1987, helping the company create a forward market in natural gas. Skilling impressed Kenneth Lay in his capacity as a consultant, and was hired by Lay in 1990 as chairman and chief executive officer of Enron Finance Corp. In 1991, he became the chairman of Enron Gas Services Co., which was a result of the merger of Enron Gas Marketing and Enron Finance Corp. Skilling was named CEO/managing director of Enron Capital...
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