Have you been to [1]Enron.com lately?

"It's the comeback story no one asked for," [2]reports CNN , "the resurrection of a brand so toxic it remains synonymous with corporate fraud more than two decades after it collapsed in bankruptcy.

"That's right, folks: Enron is back. But only kind of."

> TL;DR: A company that makes T-shirts bought the Enron trademark and appears to be trying to sell some merch on behalf of the guy behind the [3]satirical conspiracy theory "Birds Aren't Real ...."

>

> On Monday, the 23rd anniversary of Enron's [4]filing for bankruptcy , rumors began to spread that the former Texas energy giant had come back from the dead. A sleek new website, enron.com, appeared to show that the company had done some serious soul-searching and, inexplicably, reincorporated under its original brand. As a modern energy company, it would be dedicated to "solving the global energy crisis," its press statement reads. The site is packed with the kind of stock art and benign corporate platitudes that lend it credibility. There's a link to job openings, employee testimonials and even a minute-long video titled "I am Enron," a movie-trailer-style mashup of cityscape time lapses, rockets launching into space, a ballerina twirling on a beach — a mess of imagery and baritone voiceover so trite it's almost believable.

>

> But the site and its associated social media accounts are, like Enron's balance sheets, mostly fiction. Unlike the Enron scandal, however, this one appears to be little more than performance art designed to sell branded hoodies. Publicly available [5]documents show that an Akansas-based LLC called The College Company bought the Enron trademark for $275 in 2020... You can tab over to the site's "Company Store" page to browse a selection of Enron-branded hoodies ($118 before tax and shipping), puffer vests ($89), tees ($40) baseball hats ($40), beanies ($30) and water bottles emblazoned with the slogan "you've got great energy."

Somewhere on the site CNN spotted [6]a list of "key pillars " which included a commitment to "permissionless innovation," which CNN took to be "a nod that prompted some speculation online that the new 'Enron' would launch some kind of digital token." That phrase has apparently been changed now to "continuous innovation."

> An Enron-branded [7]X account posted and later deleted a message teasing at a crypto offering, saying "we do not have any token or coin (yet). Stay tuned, we are excited to show you more soon."

But sharp-eyed X.com users also found the key context to add: that the [8]Terms of Use at Enron.com declare the site's information "is First Amendment-protected parody, represents performance art, and is for entertainment purposes only."

Still, the site includes this testimonial from someone it says is a current employee. "Like many of my peers in the Enron family, I was skeptical at first.

"Now, not only do I have complete confidence in the integrity of the company, I also genuinely believe that we are leading the way for a new chapter of American business."



[1] https://enron.com/

[2] https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/02/business/enron-resurrected-joke-nightcap/index.html

[3] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/21/12/11/0421223/whats-behind-the-birds-arent-real-protests

[4] https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/02/us/enron-fast-facts/index.html

[5] https://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn88914633&docId=APP20200516085347&linkId=17#docIndex=16&page=1

[6] https://enron.com/pages/newsroom

[7] https://x.com/Enron

[8] https://enron.com/pages/terms-of-use