Enron's downfall was due to a corruption scandal at the executive level. They hid billions of dollars in debt from failed deals and projects.
On December 2, 2001, the energy giant went belly up. Enron's $63.4 billion in assets had made it the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history at the time and wiped out retirement accounts and jobs.
Enron was formed in 1985 by CEO Ken Lay after merging Houston Natural Gas and Inter-North. He was convicted in the Enron corruption scandal along with former Enron President Jeff Skilling.
Lay died in 2006 before he could be sentenced. But Skilling was sentenced in 2006 for the corruption scandal. He was convicted of multiple federal felony charges related to the Enron scandal. Skilling is still serving his 24-year prison sentence, but it could be reduced due to an earlier ruling that a Houston judge erred in applying sentencing guidelines.
And Enron's CFO Andrew Fastow has nearly completed his house arrest. He pleaded guilty to two conspiracy counts and testified against Lay and Skilling to get a reduced sentence. His six-year sentence ends December 17 at his Houston-area home.
