These guys all had audits - In fact the first one brought down Arthur Anderson:
Running a multi-billion dollar energy company isn’t easy. Just ask the executives in the corner suites of some of the energy companies that have gone bust over the years. Some, like Enron, were brought down because of insider malfeasance. A few, like ATP, blamed damaging government policies, while others went off the rails due to market forces that left the company and its shareholders flat-footed, deep in debt, and eventually broke. Here are the bankruptcies that will be etched into the tombstones of failed energy fortunes for time immemorial.
1. Enron. Bankrupt December 2, 2001. Assets $65.5 billion
Enron grew from a simple pipeline company into the world’s largest energy trader by using the Internet to buy and sell natural gas and electric power to help utilities and industrial power users hedge against price fluctuations. By 2000, Enron was worth an astonishing $68 billion, but when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission started investigating, it was revealed that much of the money was based on shady accounting practices and un-recorded losses. In one year, Enron’s stock price plummeted from more than $90 to less than $1, resulting in $11 billion in shareholder losses. The subsequent bankruptcy remains the largest in U.S. history. CEO Kenneth Lay and fellow Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling were convicted in 2006 of fraud and conspiracy. Lay died from a heart attack while awaiting sentencing. Skilling is still in prison.
2. Energy Future Holdings. Bankrupt April 29, 2014. Assets $36.4 billion
Energy Future Holdings became the largest power producer in Texas in 2007 after a $45 billion buyout of TXU Corp. But the company struggled under the weight of $40 billion in debt after revenues plunged due to lower prices for natural gas and electricity. Energy Future Holdings was broken up in April under the terms of a restructuring deal.
3. Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Bankrupt April 6, 2001. Assets $36.1 billion
California’s largest publicly-owned utility went bust after deregulation led the company to incur billions in debt. After selling its gas power plants, the company had to buy power from other energy companies. Buying at fluctuating prices and selling at fixed prices led to losses and eventual bankruptcy. But according to Time, wholesale prices eventually dropped, and the day the company emerged from bankruptcy in 2004, its stock was worth three times as much as when it filed for protection.
Related: The Biggest Energy Trading Disaster In History
4. Texaco. Bankrupt April 12, 1987. Assets $34.9 billion
Texaco started out in 1901 as the Texas Fuel Company and was independent for 100 years before merging with Chevron in 2001. However, in the 1980s, Texaco became embroiled in a legal battle with Pennzoil, and ended up owing the company $10.5 billion. That led to Texaco filing for bankruptcy, which at the time, was the largest in U.S. history.
5. Calpine Corporation. Bankrupt December 20, 2005. Assets $26.6 billion
In the mid-2000s, Calpine was the biggest owner of natural gas-fired plants in the U.S. But soaring fuel costs led the company to incur more than $22.5 billion in debt. The subsequent bankruptcy filing followed the ouster of top executives after they lost a fight with bondholders to use proceeds from asset sales to buy fuel. The company received $2 billion in financing to allow it to keep its plants supplying customers.
So can we move on?
Paul
Running a multi-billion dollar energy company isn’t easy. Just ask the executives in the corner suites of some of the energy companies that have gone bust over the years. Some, like Enron, were brought down because of insider malfeasance. A few, like ATP, blamed damaging government policies, while others went off the rails due to market forces that left the company and its shareholders flat-footed, deep in debt, and eventually broke. Here are the bankruptcies that will be etched into the tombstones of failed energy fortunes for time immemorial.
1. Enron. Bankrupt December 2, 2001. Assets $65.5 billion
Enron grew from a simple pipeline company into the world’s largest energy trader by using the Internet to buy and sell natural gas and electric power to help utilities and industrial power users hedge against price fluctuations. By 2000, Enron was worth an astonishing $68 billion, but when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission started investigating, it was revealed that much of the money was based on shady accounting practices and un-recorded losses. In one year, Enron’s stock price plummeted from more than $90 to less than $1, resulting in $11 billion in shareholder losses. The subsequent bankruptcy remains the largest in U.S. history. CEO Kenneth Lay and fellow Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling were convicted in 2006 of fraud and conspiracy. Lay died from a heart attack while awaiting sentencing. Skilling is still in prison.
2. Energy Future Holdings. Bankrupt April 29, 2014. Assets $36.4 billion
Energy Future Holdings became the largest power producer in Texas in 2007 after a $45 billion buyout of TXU Corp. But the company struggled under the weight of $40 billion in debt after revenues plunged due to lower prices for natural gas and electricity. Energy Future Holdings was broken up in April under the terms of a restructuring deal.
3. Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Bankrupt April 6, 2001. Assets $36.1 billion
California’s largest publicly-owned utility went bust after deregulation led the company to incur billions in debt. After selling its gas power plants, the company had to buy power from other energy companies. Buying at fluctuating prices and selling at fixed prices led to losses and eventual bankruptcy. But according to Time, wholesale prices eventually dropped, and the day the company emerged from bankruptcy in 2004, its stock was worth three times as much as when it filed for protection.
Related: The Biggest Energy Trading Disaster In History
4. Texaco. Bankrupt April 12, 1987. Assets $34.9 billion
Texaco started out in 1901 as the Texas Fuel Company and was independent for 100 years before merging with Chevron in 2001. However, in the 1980s, Texaco became embroiled in a legal battle with Pennzoil, and ended up owing the company $10.5 billion. That led to Texaco filing for bankruptcy, which at the time, was the largest in U.S. history.
5. Calpine Corporation. Bankrupt December 20, 2005. Assets $26.6 billion
In the mid-2000s, Calpine was the biggest owner of natural gas-fired plants in the U.S. But soaring fuel costs led the company to incur more than $22.5 billion in debt. The subsequent bankruptcy filing followed the ouster of top executives after they lost a fight with bondholders to use proceeds from asset sales to buy fuel. The company received $2 billion in financing to allow it to keep its plants supplying customers.
So can we move on?
Paul
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