Enron

Enron is the name of the company that caused a major corporate accounting scandal and related financial irregularities in 2001 that disrupted financial markets. In 1985, Houston Natural Gas merged with InterNorth, a natural gas company based in Omaha, Nebraska. The new company was renamed Enron, and in 1986, Kenneth Lay becomes chief executive. At the same time, Lay found another avenue for greater wealth: deregulation of the natural gas industry. He used his connections and had Enron make political donations in order to influence Congress to make natural gas an unregulated, tradable commodity. In 1989, as the natural gas was deregulated, Lay created the Gas Bank. This initiative was to form a bridge between producer and consumer, ensuring consumers long-term supplies at set rates ...