Enron mystery: 'sick joke' or serious revival?

Employees leaving Enron office after company collapse

(Image credit: James Nielsen / Getty Images)

What happened

Enron, the Texas energy firm that collapsed in 2001 after years of massive accounting fraud, purported to rise from the ashes of infamy on Monday, the 23rd anniversary of its bankruptcy filing.

Who said what

"Enron" announced its resurrection in a news release, video on social media, a full-page ad in the Houston Chronicle and on billboards, claiming its focus was "solving the global energy crisis" while also hinting it might launch a cryptocurrency. But several news organizations noted yesterday that a new owner of the Enron trademark was a noted prankster behind the satirical "Birds Aren't Real" conspiracy theory and the fine print on Enron's new website said its content was "parody" and "performance art."

"If it's a joke," it's a "pretty sick joke," Diana Peters, one of the roughly 25,000 Enron employees who lost their jobs and pensions in the company's collapse, said to The Associated Press. Enron's implosion also landed its CEO and other executives in prison and brought down auditing firm Arthur Anderson. "No one knows what the hell this is," said Dan Cogdell, a defense attorney who represented Enron executives, to Houston's ABC13 News. But "I've already ordered the puffer vest and some bumper stickers" from the new Enron merchandise page, so "if it's a ploy, it worked on me."

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What next?

Enron spokesperson Will Chabot said Tuesday the company isn't doing interviews but "we'll have more to share soon."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.