Summary of 💰 La Empresa que Estafó a Todo un País | Caso ENRON

00:00:00 - 00:15:00

The video discusses the Enron scandal, in which the company was found to be engaging in fraudulent business practices. We learn about the lessons that can be learned from this scandal, and how it has affected the employees of the company.

• 00:00:00 In 1938, Enron, an American company, was at the height of its power and success. However, this was due in part to its fraudulent business practices. In 2000, Ron, an oil company, was considered the seventh most valuable company in the United States and the most innovative for five consecutive years. However, what happened to this company from being at the top to being one of the biggest corporate frauds in history? In 1938, the gas industry was experiencing a difficult time because the government controlled the market and set prices. This made gas a product with unstable prices and difficult to sell, putting producers in a difficult position. Slowly, prices started to rise and government regulations were softened, but the final blow seemed to be coming with the end of the oil crisis in the 1990s. With little demand for gas, some companies went bankrupt and others were absorbed into larger companies. Ron was created in 1985 when the companies Internal and Houston Natural Gas Company merged. Two executives from the company, Luis Bourguet and Tomas Master, used Ron's resources to invest in the gas market and trade future gas prices. They did this by using company money to make risky transfers to different parts of the world. One of the most famous was a transfer to
• 00:05:00 In 1987, Enron decided to fire its staff and send them on "counts of laundering money and fraud" for 64 million dollars. This is a harsh blow to the economy and could lead to bankruptcy for the company. Thanks to an auditor who reported the company's illegal practices, the employees were eventually re-hired and the company was restructured. In 1996, Light Company hired the consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, to find a new CEO. One of McKinsey's consultants, Jeff Skilling, chose a young Harvard graduate, Jeff Skilling, and put him in charge of the company. Skilling was known for his cold heart and questionable practices. One of his favorite books was The Egoist by Richard Dawkins. This reveals a little bit about his personality. He thought that greed and competition were motivating human behavior. He developed a method for evaluating employees, which consisted of rating them on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being excellent and 1 being poor. He used this method to fire employees who were rated at 5 points or higher. At this specific time and depending on buyers to make money, he guaranteed them an "infinite" flow of gas. In doing so, he manipulated the value of
• 00:10:00 The video discusses a corporate fraud that has similarities to the Enron scandal, which involved the founder of Elizabeth Holmes' company. Bethanie McLean, a journalist who wrote an article about Holmes in Fortune, was investigated for her rapid rise in five years and was eventually fired from her job at the company. In October 2001, Enron declared losses of 638 million euros and began to be investigated by regulatory agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company's value plummeted, and its shares ceased to trade within a dollar of their minimum value. In January 2002, Enron filed for bankruptcy, and the largest corporate bankruptcy in US history followed. President of Enron Life was found guilty of 10 counts of fraud and was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Skilling, the ex-executive, was later indicted for 19 fraud charges despite his denial of knowledge, and was sentenced to 24 years in prison. After serving 12 years, he was released in 2019. Skilling has since founded a new energy company. The three main lessons learned from the Enron scandal are: 1) greed will always lead to tragedy; 2) bad culture can be contagious; and 3) a team needs synergy to be successful.
• 00:15:00 In this video, we learn about the case of ENRON, and how its employees were affected. We also look at some of the lessons that can be learned from this scandal. Finally, we provide a list of 10 innovative ideas for businesses.