Ethical analysis of Enron's collapse

History of Enron

Enron with 21,000 employees and international offices around the globe was the seventh largest company in America and one of the world's largest energy, commodities and Services Company. Before its bankruptcy, it marketed electricity and natural gas, delivered energy and other physical commodities, and provided financial and risk management services to customers worldwide. Based in Houston, Texas, Enron was formed in July 1985 by the merger of Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth of Omaha, Nebraska. Initially a natural gas pipeline company, Enron rapidly evolved from delivering energy to brokering energy futures as energy markets was deregulated. The company began marketing electricity in 1994 and entered the European energy market in 1995.

In 1999, Enron launched a plan to buy and sell access to high-speed Internet bandwidth, and it launched Enron Online, a Web-based commodity-trading site, making it an e-commerce company. The company reported revenues of $101 billion in 2000.

Enron Downfall

English: Enron Complex in Houston Texas

Enron Duck

It had stakes in nearly 30,000 miles of gas pipeline, owned or had access to a 15,000-mile fiber optic network, and had a stake in electricity generating operations around the world. Within the time of one year Enron spent 100 million dollars buying thousands of miles of cable across the country and buying rights to thousands more. Many people thought that Enron had found yet another gold mine.

The Collapse

But behind all the raves and critics, trading never really took off. Also many senior advisors for Enron said that Enron Broadband Services was just a huge out of control spending scheme. Though Enron seemed to be tricking many in the broadband services they didn't really fool around with tricking people in water or electricity they in a way knew that people needed those items to survive.

Its spectacular collapse has had almost as big an impact in...