One of the country's most infamous corporations made a surprise return exactly 23 years after its stunning collapse.
Enron Corp. collapsed Nov. 28, 2001, when Dynegy Inc. backed out of an $8.4 billion takeover deal, plunging what had been the world's largest energy trader into bankruptcy four days later, leading to the prosecutions of top executives and prompting new regulations on financial accounting, but a company bearing the same name announced its return with a video posted on X.
"We're back," the post says. "Can we talk?"
The one-minute video shows a series of dramatic and prosaic scenes from all over the globe, with a narrator saying, "In the modern world, you must accept change is the only constant," and the ad ends with men and women of various ethnic backgrounds saying, "I am Enron."
The corporation announced its rebirth Monday in a statement in which it said it plans to invest in renewable energy infrastructure and emphasize ethical business practices. The company teased a cryptocurrency “token or coin” in the near future, and it's not clear what relationship the company has to a pump.fun token called Enron that was launched three days ago.
The ad announcing the company's apparent re-emergence confused many viewers and drew a reader note from X: "A crypto scam masquerading as bankrupted Enron Corporation."
"Did The Onion buy you too?" posted the X account eBay jackets & hats.
"Enron filed for bankruptcy on Dec 2, 2001," said the X account Edison, "and you guys are back again exactly 23 years later for another financial crime?"
"Love this. 10/10 grift content," said business writer Dan Toomey. "It’s got everything. Sand ballet. Old guy eyeballs stapled to an Apple Vision Pro. Farm man. Black guy boxing. Even AI couldn’t fart out something this generic. Top class, boys."
"The most famous scam corporation maybe ever deciding it’s a crypto company now and not changing the branding whatsoever feels so on the nose that it almost has to be fake, right?" said X user Rob Cassidy. "Right?
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"Oh my god. Too young to have experienced the OG, very much looking forward to the sequel," said oil market researcher Rory Johnson.
"Not only is Polio coming back…so is Enron!" said journalist Yashar Ali.
According to Tech Crunch reporter Sean O'Kane, the company appears to be an elaborate hoax by the "Birds Aren't Real" pranksters who mock conspiracy theories.
"This appears to be an (admittedly elaborate) bit by the Birds Aren't Real people to sell Enron-themed merch (and who knows what else), based on who owns the trademark," O'Kane posted on BlueSky. "You're welcome."
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