Did you know you can invest in the weather? It's true. You can actually make money speculating that the temperature in Sacramento, California, will be warmer than it normally is. If that's too dull for your portfolio, you can put money down on the inches of snowfall next winter in Boston, Massachusetts, or the strength of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico.
In the largest settlement in the history of U.S. securities fraud cases, Enron shareholders and investors will split more than $7.2 billion from financial institutions accused of playing a role in the energy giant's downfall.
There is a lot of negativity on Wall Street right now. But I don't think cracking down on short sellers is the solution to the market's woes.
Federal regulators investigating possible price manipulation of crude oil are probably looking at what role collapsed energy giant Enron may have played, a former government official said Friday.
Citigroup Inc. said Wednesday that it agreed to pay $1.66 billion in claims to settle a dispute with creditors of Enron, bringing the dramatic tale of the fallen energy giant one step closer to an end.
The Supreme Court dealt a blow Tuesday to Enron investors who sued major investment banks to recover money lost when the Texas energy giant collapsed
The Supreme Court dealt a blow Tuesday to investors seeking to recover damages from alleged corporate fraud, a potentially huge liability case being closely watched by owners of stock, the business community and government regulators.
"When Enron blows up, will it be worse than Long-Term Capital?"
Start with the headlines about off-balance-sheet entities known as structured investment vehicles, or SIVs (or sieves, as some wags are calling them). As Gertrude Stein never said, an off-balance-sheet vehicle is an off-balance-sheet vehicle is an off-balance-sheet vehicle.
Start with the headlines about off-balance-sheet entities known as structured investment vehicles, or SIVs (or sieves, as some wags are calling them). As Gertrude Stein never said, an off-balance-sheet vehicle is an off-balance-sheet vehicle is an off-balance-sheet vehicle. Just as Enron's off-balance-sheet vehicles were propping up its stock price by camouflaging the company's real financial results, so SIVs were inflating the credit market by providing demand for the complex securities created out of mortgages and loans used to finance buyouts. Like Enron's off-balance-sheet vehicles, SIVs were invisible to those on the outside--and to many on the inside--until they weren't. When times were good, these creations made money for their sponsors, but when times changed, they became a problem for the rest of us. It's a little bit like "heads I win, tails you lose," which is pretty much how a former Enron executive described that company's off-balance-sheet vehicles.
Did you know you can invest in the weather? It's true. You can actually make money speculating that the temperature in Sacramento, California, will be warmer than it normally is. If that's too dull for your portfolio, you can put money down on the inches of snowfall next winter in Boston, Massachusetts, or the strength of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico.
In the largest settlement in the history of U.S. securities fraud cases, Enron shareholders and investors will split more than $7.2 billion from financial institutions accused of playing a role in the energy giant's downfall.
There is a lot of negativity on Wall Street right now. But I don't think cracking down on short sellers is the solution to the market's woes.
Federal regulators investigating possible price manipulation of crude oil are probably looking at what role collapsed energy giant Enron may have played, a former government official said Friday.
Citigroup Inc. said Wednesday that it agreed to pay $1.66 billion in claims to settle a dispute with creditors of Enron, bringing the dramatic tale of the fallen energy giant one step closer to an end.
The Supreme Court dealt a blow Tuesday to Enron investors who sued major investment banks to recover money lost when the Texas energy giant collapsed
The Supreme Court dealt a blow Tuesday to investors seeking to recover damages from alleged corporate fraud, a potentially huge liability case being closely watched by owners of stock, the business community and government regulators.
"When Enron blows up, will it be worse than Long-Term Capital?"
Start with the headlines about off-balance-sheet entities known as structured investment vehicles, or SIVs (or sieves, as some wags are calling them). As Gertrude Stein never said, an off-balance-sheet vehicle is an off-balance-sheet vehicle is an off-balance-sheet vehicle.
Start with the headlines about off-balance-sheet entities known as structured investment vehicles, or SIVs (or sieves, as some wags are calling them). As Gertrude Stein never said, an off-balance-sheet vehicle is an off-balance-sheet vehicle is an off-balance-sheet vehicle. Just as Enron's off-balance-sheet vehicles were propping up its stock price by camouflaging the company's real financial results, so SIVs were inflating the credit market by providing demand for the complex securities created out of mortgages and loans used to finance buyouts. Like Enron's off-balance-sheet vehicles, SIVs were invisible to those on the outside--and to many on the inside--until they weren't. When times were good, these creations made money for their sponsors, but when times changed, they became a problem for the rest of us. It's a little bit like "heads I win, tails you lose," which is pretty much how a former Enron executive described that company's off-balance-sheet vehicles.
Authenticity junkies and fans of hypocrisy got a hilarious treat recently from USA Today, which reported on the apparently discordant persona of Lynn Brewer, the ostensible Enron whistleblower.
The former CEO of Enron Corp.'s broadband division reported to a Louisiana prison on Tuesday to serve 27 months for securities fraud related to his role in the company's 2001 collapse, his lawyer said.
The former chief of Enron Corp.'s high-speed Internet unit, who turned government witness and testified in the trial of former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling and company founder Kenneth Lay, was sentenced Monday to 27 months in prison
A U.S. federal judge Monday sentenced a former Enron Corp. executive to 27 months for securities fraud in the energy trader's 2001 collapse.
It can be a bumpy ride from fame to obscurity in business - from front-page news to trivia-quiz answer. From time to time Fortune tracks down a few of the biggest heroes and rogues of the recent past to see what they're up to and what they've learned.
Government prosecutors won't challenge an appeals court's decision to overturn the convictions of several former Merrill Lynch & Co. executives in an Enron-related case, according to a published report.
Film star Leonardo DiCaprio is slated to produce and star in a new film on the collapse of the giant energy company Enron, Warner Bros. movie studio said Tuesday.
Howls are still being heard about the sentence granted Enron's former CFO Andy Fastow. Fastow cut a plea bargain to cooperate with the feds in return for ten years in the slammer, and he was expect...
Here's what I couldn't understand about the options backdating scandal: How could behavior that in most cases is so clearly bad and wrong be happening at so many companies? There was only one Enron...
Sometimes it's good to be guilty. Just ask Andy Fastow: he pleaded guilty and worked to nail the other smart guys at Enron, and got a reduced six-year prison sentence. By contrast, Jeffrey Skilling, who has long proclaimed his innocence, seems likely to serve 24 years and four months behind bars.
Former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling, who gained infamy as the man who orchestrated one of the largest corporate frauds in history, has been sentenced to more than 24 years in prison.
Former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling, who gained infamy as the man who orchestrated the largest corporate fraud in history, was sentenced to more than 24 years in jail Monday.
Former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling is about to face the music for his part in the fraud that brought down the nation's seventh-largest corporation as his sentencing hearing begins this week in Houston.
Former Enron financial chief Andrew Fastow, long vilified as the mastermind behind the collapse of Enron, was sentenced to six years in prison Tuesday - a lighter sentence than the 10 years he agreed to in his original plea agreement.
Almost five years since Enron's infamous implosion, the company's former financial chief Andrew Fastow likely will soon trade his business suit for prison garb.
The federal government said Thursday that it agreed to cap at $12 million the amount of money that Enron workers who lost their pensions could try to recover from the estate of Ken Lay, the former Enron chairman who died in July.
The Enron case keeps offering up surprises. When a federal appeals court overturned the Enron-related convictions of four Merrill Lynch officials last month, it triggered two lines of reflexive pun...
Who can forget the voices of Enron's traders, caught on tape as a damaging wildfire raged during the California energy crisis, exulting in the profits they were reaping from the state's misery? "Bu...
These guidelines reduce complex money questions to simple formulas. How well do you know them?
Even as Enron founder Kenneth Lay's conviction is expected to be expunged with his death, the memory of his crimes has started to fade. So too, say legal experts, has our collective zeal to suss out and prosecute any more corporate crime.
Three British bankers facing prosecution in the United States in connection with the Enron Corp. scandal have arrived in Texas after last minute attempts to block their extradition failed.
Enron founder and convicted fraudster Ken Lay has died of a massive heart attack at his holiday home in Aspen, Colorado.
Kenneth Lay, who rose from a poor preacher's son to become a millionaire before being convicted of corporate fraud, died early Wednesday in Aspen, Colo., a family spokeswoman said.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is being urged to cancel the extradition to the United States of three former NatWest bankers accused on Enron-related fraud charges.
(FORTUNE Magazine) - The most innovative company in corporate America. That's what FORTUNE called Enron for six years running, from 1995 through 2000. It was an "extraordinary" and "unique" busines...
You'd think that the recent publicity surrounding the fraud and conspiracy trial of former Enron execs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling would be all the reminder anyone would need to steer clear of...
Ask folks in the Texas/Oklahoma oil patch how Enron is doing, and you might get a surprising answer. "They're a very highly regarded company," one longtime oilman told me recently.
A Houston jury convicted both Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling, despite the fact that Kenny Boy packed his Bible to the courtroom every day.
(FORTUNE Magazine) - The most innovative company in corporate America. That's what FORTUNE called Enron for six years running, from 1995 through 2000. It was an "extraordinary" and "unique" business, concluded a respected Goldman Sachs analyst in early 2001. When we wrote our first expose of the company, nine months before it collapsed into bankruptcy, we coyly compared it to Hollywood's reigning "it girls," Jennifer Lopez and Kate Hudson, because Wall Street was virtually drooling over the stock. Those memories were hard to conjure in the somber environment of the Houston federal courthouse on May 25, when a jury of eight women and four men convicted former Enron CEOs Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling of conspiracy and fraud.
Enron Corp.'s former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling and founder Kenneth Lay have been found guilty of conspiracy and fraud in one of the biggest business scandals in U.S. history -- a case that sent shock waves through corporate boardrooms worldwide.
Reactions from former Enron employees to Thursday's verdict in the Enron criminal trial were swift and unambiguous.
Enron former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling and founder Kenneth Lay were both found guilty Thursday of conspiracy and fraud in the granddaddy of all corporate fraud cases.
You'd think that the recent publicity surrounding the fraud and conspiracy trial of former Enron execs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling would be all the reminder anyone would need to steer clear of company stock in a 401(k).
Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling face another day of waiting as jurors in the biggest corporate trial in recent history ended their fifth day of deliberations Wednesday.
Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling faced another day of waiting Monday as jurors in the biggest corporate trial in memory continued their third day of deliberations.
After three and a half long months, the Enron trial has drawn to a close.
The fates of Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling are now in the hands of the jury, which ended its first half-day of deliberations Wednesday afternoon.
How much do closing arguments really matter?
The defense teams for Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling summed up the prosecution's case against the defendants Tuesday in two words: "smoke" and "mirrors."
In the 54th day of the Enron trial, government prosecutor Kathryn Ruemmler told jurors that Enron founder Kenneth Lay and ex-CEO Jeffrey Skilling orchestrated a massive fraud that led to the bankruptcy that symbolized the nation's rash of corporate scandals.
It's not looking too pretty for Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling as the corporate trial of the century enters its final stretch.
Back in late January, when we arrived in Houston for the start of the epic Enron trial, we were sure that greed, arrogance, and deceit had helped destroy America's seventh-largest company. But even...
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - It's not looking too pretty for Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling as the corporate trial of the century enters its final stretch.
The government will not call former Enron accounting chief Richard Causey to testify against his former bosses when the prosecution begins its rebuttal to the defense next week, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Depending on what jury verdict emerges from the Enron trial, the defense of former CEOs Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling will either be viewed as the most brilliant victory in the history of white-collar criminal defense -- or the most expensive bungle ever.
HOUSTON (CNNMoney.com) - In his sixth and final day on the stand, Enron founder Kenneth Lay testified that the most painful moment in his life was watching Enron go into bankruptcy.
Back in late January, when we arrived in Houston for the start of the epic Enron trial, we were sure that greed, arrogance, and deceit had helped destroy America's seventh-largest company.
Government prosecutors concluded their cross examination of Enron founder Kenneth Lay Monday, but not before painting a portrait of a man who put himself and his financial interests ahead of his own employees.
HE LOOKS DIFFERENT now. His tan is gone, and he's put on some weight. But what really struck observers in the courtroom when Jeff Skilling finally took the stand on April 10 was how different he so...
In his fourth day on the stand, Enron founder Kenneth Lay tried to convince jurors Thursday that he was fully compliant with the Securities and Exchange Commission's regulations regarding public disclosure of his approximately $70 million in stock sales in the final months before Enron collapsed.
On the third and last day of direct questioning by his lawyer, Enron co-founder Kenneth Lay testified Wednesday that he was confident in the company's strength, but was forced to sell large amounts of stock in order to meet margin calls and repay a line of credit that he borrowed from Enron.
Tempers flared at the trial of Enron's co-founder and ex-CEO Wednesday as government prosecutor John Hueston started cross-examining Enron founder Kenneth Lay.
A strong company ... a barrage of bad press ... and a traitor sent packing.
Enron founder Ken Lay testified Monday that he met with former vice president Sherron Watkins to discuss Enron's accounting but that at no time did she suggest the transactions were illegal.
Listening to defendant Jeff Skilling Wednesday in Houston, as he headed into the home stretch of his stint on the witness stand, it was scary to think about how the world of business might operate under the approach he is defending in court.
HOUSTON (CNNMoney.com) - In his eighth day of testimony, Enron's former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling was excused from the stand, but not before he reasserted his belief that he did his best to uphold his duty to Enron shareholders.
"Maybe I'm Alice in Wonderland here."
HOUSTON (FORTUNE) - "Mr. Berkowitz, you may question Mr. Skilling, if you wish," Judge Sim Lake offered, with a straight face, at the beginning of Monday's court proceedings in Houston.
In his second day of cross examination, Enron's former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling's carefully maintained composure began to show signs of wear Tuesday as he fielded tough questions from the government over the way in which Enron met earnings targets.
He looks different now. His tan is gone, and he's put on some weight. But what really struck observers in the courtroom when Jeff Skilling finally took the stand on April 10 was how different he sounded.
After four days of direct examination, Enron's former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling once again declared his innocence and said he was taking a stand for the company.
HOUSTON (FORTUNE) - As Jeff Skilling is telling the story from the witness stand, Enron was the corporate equivalent of Lake Wobegon: All the businesses were strong; all the accounting was good-looking; and all the corporate assets were above average.
HOUSTON (CNNMoney.com) - Enron's former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling conceded that in hindsight the company's off-balance sheet partnerships were a "horrible" idea but said those transactions had been blessed by trusted accountants and lawyers.
HOUSTON (FORTUNE) - "I'm probably a little nervous." That was the first thing Jeff Skilling said after taking the witness stand Monday morning at 10:30 a.m.
In his second day on the stand, Enron's former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling vehemently denied that he had ever had any secret side deals with former financial chief Andrew Fastow or any other officer at Enron.
Former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling took the witness stand Monday and came out swinging in the first few moments of his testimony as he declared his innocence and said he was proud of the company that he helped build.
It's showtime for Enron's former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling as he finally prepares to take the stand in his own defense Monday.
Well, they fooled us.
On March 31, Jeffrey Skilling's attorneys filed two remarkable documents with the federal court in Houston where he and Ken Lay are being tried on fraud and conspiracy charges.
From the start of opening arguments, a key defense theme in the Enron trial has been that greedy short-sellers played a big part in bringing down the company, by conspiring with the media and triggering a fatal "run on the bank." Mike Ramsey, Ken Lay's lead defense attorney, for example, called shorts "vultures" who "are trying to kill a company so that they will make money."
Even if you're an Enron junkie -- meaning that while most in the courtroom are groaning about endless accounting detail, you're sitting on the edge of your wooden bench, rapt -- you would have found Wednesday's testimony trying.
Defense testimony from Enron's ex-general counsel James Derrick dragged into a second day Thursday, making it likely that former CEO Jeffrey Skilling's testimony will be put off until next week.
Defense lawyers moved speedily through three more witnesses Tuesday on their way to calling Skilling Thursday morning. Thus far, the line that every pundit is repeating -- which is that this case will come down to how well Skilling and Lay do on the stand -- rings true.
Enron investigated allegations made by then-vice president Sherron Watkins in 2001, but found some of her concerns were based on office gossip and found no evidence the company's accounting was inappropriate, a witness for the defense of the company's two former CEOs testified Wednesday.
"Drive-by shootings." That's how lawyers in the defense camp privately describe the Enron Task Force's prosecutorial methods.
In its second day at bat, the defense team in the Enron trial hammered away at testimony from former executives presented by the prosecution about alleged side deals between former CEO Jeffrey Skilling and ex-financial chief Andrew Fastow that put Fastow's LJM partnerships interests before Enron's.
One of the the jaw-dropping moments in the trial of former CEOs Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling came when former CFO Andy Fastow discussed the road show that Enron executives set up to reassure skittish ...
Act 2 of the Enron trial got underway Monday when the first witness for the defense tried to cast doubt on Enron's former head of investor relations, saying he pleaded guilty under pressure from the government.
For Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling, the man in the mirror may prove to be their best bet for an acquittal.
What I did was reprehensible, and it is not easy to look at yourself and to recognize that about yourself and to admit it. And it took me a long time to do that, and some days--some days it's still...
The judge in the Enron case dismissed three counts against former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling and one count against founder Kenneth Lay as the government rested its case against the two former executives Tuesday morning.
Dan Petrocelli, Jeff Skilling's lead attorney, ended his questioning of the government's last big witness (former Enron treasurer Ben Glisan) the same way he did with his questioning of its first (former investor relations chief Mark Koenig) -- on an oddly sympathetic (and disingenuous-sounding) note.
Just over two months into the corporate trial of the century, Enron prosecutors are ready to take their seats and let defense attorneys for Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling claim the spotlight.
At about 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, prosecutor Kathy Ruemmler finished questioning Ben Glisan, who was Enron's treasurer.
Corporate executives, faced with greater regulatory scrutiny and demands in the wake of corporate scandals like Enron, have for some time moaned that new compliance rules are costing them profits and manpower, as well as cumbersome and probably not that effective.
A federal appeals court's decision to overturn former star investment banker Frank Quattrone's conviction is a reminder to judges and prosecutors alike: get it right the first time or watch your case go up in smoke.
"What I did was reprehensible, and it is not easy to look at yourself and to recognize that about yourself and to admit it. And it took me a long time to do that, and some days -- some days it's still hard to do that. I've destroyed my life. All I can do is try to take what's left, ask forgiveness, and be the best person I can be."
Enron's most prominent whistle blower Sherron Watkins took the stand Wednesday and described a company that increasingly became mired in accounting fraud in 2001, prompting her to send an anonymous letter to Enron founder Kenneth Lay in August warning him that the company "had a hole in the ship and we're going to sink."
The government expects to wrap up its case against Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling within the next two weeks, a federal prosecutor said late Tuesday.
The lead attorney for Enron founder Kenneth Lay mounted an aggressive attack against key prosecution witness Andrew Fastow, accusing the former financial chief of exaggerating Enron's financial woes and lying about the company's dealings with Goldman Sachs in 2001.
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