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Enron Scandal

Thousands lost their jobs while Enron insiders made off with the loot. See the selling for yourself.

Enron Corp. (ENRNQ) Chronology of Events (choose date for trade) oldest to newest newest to oldest	ticker for trade in other company
1999-08-01: Enron exits oil and gas production by divesting its stake in subsidiary Enron Oil & Gas Co., which is renamed EOG Resources.
1999-10-01: Enron announces launch of EnronOnline, its Internet-based system for wholesale energy trading.
2000-01-01: Enron outlines plans to build a high-speed broadband telecom network and trade network capacity, or bandwidth, as it trades electricity or gas.
2000-07-01: Enron and Blockbuster announce 20-year deal to provide video-on-demand service over high-speed Internet lines.
2000-08-17: Enron's stock hits $90
2000-12-01: The board of water company Azurix agrees to a buyout by Enron at $8.375 a share after Azurix fails to meet performance targets. Eighteen months earlier, Azurix had been taken public with $700 million initial public offering at $19 per share.
2001-02-05: Andersen holds a meeting on retaining Enron as an auditing client, during which questions are raised about the handling of related party transactions with an Enron partnership.
2001-02-12: Jeff Skilling becomes president and chief executive officer.
2001-03-09: Enron and Blockbuster cancel video deal.
2001-05-29: Maharashtra State Electricity Board, Dabhol power plant's sole customer, stops buying power.
2001-06-21: At an appearance in California, Jeff Skilling is hit in the face with a cream pie as Enron comes under fire for "profiteering" from the electricity crisis.
2001-08-14: Jeff Skilling resigns as Enron president and chief executive officer, citing personal reasons. Kenneth Lay returns to chief executive job.
2001-08-15: Watkins sends anonymous letter to Kenneth Lay raising concerns about the company's accounting for certain partnerships.
2001-08-20: Watkins discusses her Enron accounting concerns with Andersen audit partner James Hecker via telephone.
2001-08-21: Andersen audit partner James Hecker authors memorandum to other Andersen officials, including chief Enron auditor David Duncan, regarding Enron global Vice President Watkins' concerns.
2001-10-16: Enron reports its first quarterly loss in more than four years after taking charges of $1 billion on poorly performing businesses.
2001-10-17: Criticism of Enron mounts after a Wall Street Journal report discloses that Enron took $1.2 billion charge against shareholders' equity relating to dealings with partnerships run by Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow.
2001-10-22: Enron says US Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into transactions between Enron and the Andrew Fastow partnerships.
2001-10-24: Andrew Fastow is replaced as chief financial officer by Jeff McMahon.
2001-10-28: Enron Chairman Lay calls Treasury Secretary O'Neill to give him information about Enron's difficulties.
2001-10-29: Kenneth Lay calls US Commerce Secretary Evans to inform the government its credit rating was under review.
2001-11-01: J P Morgan and Salomon Smith Barney agree to provide an additional $1 billion in secured credit.
2001-11-08: Enron says it overstated earnings dating back to 1997 by almost $600 million. Kenneth Lay places a second telephone call to US Treasury Secretary O'Neill.
2001-11-09: Enron agrees to be acquired by smaller rival Dynegy Inc. for $9 billion in stock. Under the terms, Chevron Texaco agrees to inject $1.5 billion in fresh capital.
2001-11-20: Enron discloses that a deterioration in its credit ratings could accelerate repayment of a $690 million loan. It subsequently negotiates an extension of the loan.
2001-11-28: Major credit rating agencies downgrade Enron's bonds to "junk" status. Dynegy terminates its deal to buy Enron. Enron temporarily suspends all payments, other than those necessary to maintain core operations.
2001-12-02: Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the biggest in US history, and hits Dynegy with a $10 billion breach of contract lawsuit.
2001-12-03: Enron fires 4,000 employees, while Dynegy counter-sues for control of the Northern Natural Gas Pipeline.
2001-12-04: Enron secures $1.5 billion in emergency financing from major creditors J P Morgan Chase and Citigroup, so it can run a skeleton operation.
2001-12-13: Executives from accounting firm Andersen tell Congress they warned Enron about "possible illegal acts" after it failed to provide crucial data about its finances to Andersen.
2001-12-18: Tearful Enron employees and investors tell a congressional committee how they lost their life savings in the collapse.
2002-01-09: The Justice Department says it has opened a criminal investigation of Enron.
2002-01-10: Andersen admits employees disposed of documents relating to Enron's audit.
2002-01-11: Swiss bank UBS AG reaches an agreement to take control of Enron's main energy trading business.
2002-01-14: Congressional investigators uncover Global Finance Vice President Sherron Watkins warning to Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay in August of accounting problems and a "veil of secrecy" around certain partnerships.
2002-01-15: Enron's stock begins trading over-the-counter after the New York Stock Exchange moves to delist its shares. Enron last traded on the NYSE at 67 cents on January 10.
2002-01-16: Andersen mounts an advertising campaign to salvage its reputation.
2002-01-17: Enron decides to fire Andersen, blaming the auditor for destroying documents government investigators are seeking.
2002-01-21: After news reports that Enron employees were recently shredding documents, Enron said it had e-mailed employees four times asking them to preserve all documents regarding its activities.
2002-01-22: Enron says Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and Justice Department representatives entered the company's Houston headquarters to search for evidence that the company was shredding documents recently.
2002-01-23: Enron Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lay steps down from company he led since its inception in 1986. Lay says he is unable to focus on restructuring, given the criminal, civil and congressional investigations.
2002-01-24: Top Andersen executives tell lawmakers that its lead partner for auditing Enron's books was largely responsible for the destruction of a "very substantial volume of documents" sought by government investigators.
2002-01-25: The personal toll of the collapse of Enron grows by one more with the apparent suicide of a former executive who had opposed the arcane accounting practices that hid billions in debt and ultimately triggered bankruptcy.
2002-01-28: Former employees who lost millions in retirement funds when Enron collapsed sue, while the wife of former CEO Kenneth Lay sobs on national television and says her family lost its fortune.
2002-01-29: Enron names restructuring expert Stephen Cooper as acting chief executive.
2002-01-30: Congressional investigators plan unprecedented court action to find out what role Enron and others played in developing the White House's energy plan.
2002-01-31: Federal energy regulators say they launched an investigation into allegations that Enron unfairly boosted wholesale power prices during California's electricity crisis.
2002-02-01: The US Justice Department says it believes documents the Bush administration has may contain information that may be relevant to its investigation of Enron and told the White House not to destroy any relate documents.
2002-02-02: An internal inquiry into the downfall of Enron finds the company inflated profits by $1 billion while top employees raked in millions they should never have received through a web of complex partnerships, key to the company's collapse.
2002-02-04: Enron tried to systematically manipulate results and deceive shareholders as top executives raked in millions, the author of an internal inquiry into the company's collapse tells Congress.
2002-02-05: Congress extracts a promise from former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay to appear but there was no guarantee he would say anything about events leading to the energy giant's collapse.
2002-02-07: Former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling tells Congress that he thought the bankrupt energy trader's financial statements were accurate and that it was in no peril when he resigned.
2002-02-08: Former Enron's Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lay may testify to Congress after all when he appears next week before a committee probing the energy trading giant's collapse, Sen. Byron Dorgan says.

Enron Corp. (ENRNQ) Chronology of Events

Enron Corp. (ENRNQ)
Chronology of Events