Ten dated marks from Enron's creation through the 2001 bankruptcy, the Powers Report, Sarbanes-Oxley, and the 2006 Houston verdicts.
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Enron filed for Chapter 11 protection on 2 December 2001 in the Southern District of New York bankruptcy court, after restatements, an SEC inquiry, and the collapse of a proposed Dynegy merger.
Jeffrey Skilling was convicted in 2006 in the Southern District of Texas. Andrew Fastow pleaded guilty in 2004. Kenneth Lay was convicted in 2006 but died before sentencing; that conviction was vacated. Other employees and bankers faced separate cases.
A Houston jury convicted Andersen in 2002 of obstruction of justice related to document destruction. The Supreme Court reversed the conviction in 2005, but the firm had already lost its public-company audit practice.
A February 2002 report by a special committee of Enron's board, chaired by William C. Powers Jr., describing the LJM partnerships, Raptor structures, and board oversight failures. It is a primary public narrative of the accounting.
Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 after Enron and related collapses, including WorldCom. The Act created the PCAOB, expanded auditor-independence rules, and required executive certification of filings.
Enron booked estimated fair values of certain long-term contracts as current earnings. Courts and the Powers committee treated the abuse as lying in unsupported valuations and related-party hedges, not in the mere existence of fair-value accounting.
The collapse is dated 2001. The accounting choices and the legal aftermath occupy the decade around it.
These entries are the ones the Powers Report, the criminal docket, and the legislative history cite most often.
JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember
Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth merge. The company later named Enron becomes a pipeline-and-trading enterprise based in Houston.
Enron expands trading and uses mark-to-market accounting on long-term contracts, reporting earnings that later restatements and prosecutors attacked as unsupported.
CFO Andrew Fastow organizes LJM vehicles that transact with Enron. The Powers Report later treats the conflicts as central to the hidden-loss story.
Skilling resigns in August. Watkins writes to Lay. Enron takes a large October charge. Chapter 11 follows on 2 December.
The board special committee issues the Powers Report in February. Andersen is convicted of obstruction in June. Sarbanes-Oxley is signed on 30 July.
Andrew Fastow pleads guilty to conspiracy and agrees to cooperate. His testimony becomes a pillar of the later Houston trial.
The Supreme Court reverses Andersen's conviction for faulty instructions. The firm's audit practice is already gone.
A Houston jury convicts both men. Lay dies on 5 July; his conviction is vacated. Skilling is sentenced to 24 years, later reduced.
The Supreme Court narrows honest-services fraud. Skilling's case is remanded; other fraud convictions remain.
After further proceedings, Skilling's prison term is reduced (to 14 years in a 2013 agreement). He is later released to supervised conditions.
Each public-record claim on this dossier sits beside the timeline chapter already on the page.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice, not a how-to, not a private file.
Claim Mark-to-market accounting is itself illegal.
Timeline beat 1985 — Enron formed
U.S. GAAP allows fair-value treatment in defined settings. The Enron cases attacked unsupported valuations and related-party hedges, not the existence of the standard.
Claim Arthur Andersen was exonerated and survived.
Timeline beat 1990s — Trading and mark-to-market
The Supreme Court reversed the conviction in 2005, but the firm had already collapsed as a public-company auditor in 2002.
Claim Kenneth Lay's conviction still stands.
Timeline beat 1999 — LJM partnerships
Lay died before sentencing. Under the abatement doctrine the district court vacated the conviction.
Claim Enron was only a California energy-crisis story.
Timeline beat 2001 — Resignation, warning, bankruptcy
California trading is part of the history; the criminal core in Houston was corporate accounting, SPEs, and false statements to investors and banks.
Mark each timeline beat already on this dossier as supported, contested or unknown, using the public-record claims already filed here. Not a verdict.
Editorial marks on this device only. Public-record encyclopedia — not legal advice, not a how-to, not a private file.
| Timeline beat | Supported / Contested / Unknown |
|---|---|
| 1985 — Enron formed Claim already on file: Mark-to-market accounting is itself illegal. | |
| 1990s — Trading and mark-to-market Claim already on file: Arthur Andersen was exonerated and survived. | |
| 1999 — LJM partnerships Claim already on file: Kenneth Lay's conviction still stands. | |
| 2001 — Resignation, warning, bankruptcy Claim already on file: Enron was only a California energy-crisis story. | |
| 2002 — Powers Report and SOX Claim already on file: Enron was only a California energy-crisis story. | |
| 2004 — Fastow plea Claim already on file: Enron was only a California energy-crisis story. | |
| 2005 — Andersen reversed Claim already on file: Enron was only a California energy-crisis story. | |
| 2006 — Lay and Skilling verdicts Claim already on file: Enron was only a California energy-crisis story. | |
| 2010 — Skilling v. United States Claim already on file: Enron was only a California energy-crisis story. | |
| 2013 — Sentence reduced Claim already on file: Enron was only a California energy-crisis story. |
After the Houston verdicts, Enron's live legal life was appeals and estate work; the accounting-fraud story was already a teaching case.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice. Not a how-to. Graphic detail is withheld. Wars belong in a separate atlas.