Movie Analysis Of Enron

Enron was a Houston based energy, commodities and services company. When people hear the name Enron they automatically associate their name with one of the biggest accounting and ethical scandals known to date. The documentary, “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” provides an in depth examination of Enron and the Enron scandal. The film does a wonderful job of depicting the downfall of Enron and how the corporate culture and ethics were key to Enron’s fall. As the movie suggests, Enron is “not a story about numbers, it is a story about people.”

In 1985, InterNorth, a large energy and natural gas pipeline company acquired Kenneth Lay’s company, Houston Natural Gas, in an attempt to thwart a takeover. The newly converged company would later be named Enron. Kenneth Lay was named chairman and CEO very early on post-merger, and is considered to be the

The company was known for taking big risks and returning big rewards. Enron was constantly looking for the next big move to make the company money. Lay and Skilling were both quoted many times stating that in order to make big returns, you must take big risks. One of the first big ideas discussed in the movie was Skilling’s idea to create a new way to deliver energy. His idea was to create a commodities market for natural gas. Lay saw this as a way for Enron to make money and he recruited Skilling to come head this new idea up at Enron, which would later be known as the Gas Bank. Skilling left his consulting role to head the Gas Bank for Enron. Everyone was excited about this great new idea and Skilling and Lay used this to their advantage. Enron began a transition from being a producer of natural gas into a company focused on the trading of natural gas, basically acting as an investment bank in the commodities market. This sector of the business would later be known as Enron Finance Corp; which Skilling would continue to