JANUARY, 1997 Jeffrey Skilling is named
president and COO. In six years, he had put Enron (ENE ) on the map as a
natural-gas and electricity trading powerhouse.
JULY Enron pays
$3.2 billion for Portland General Electric to combine the utility's wholesale
and retail electricity expertise with Enron's natural-gas and electricity
marketing and risk-management skills.
AUGUST Enron branches out
beyond energy, introducing commodity trading of weather
derivatives.
MAY, 1998 Rebecca Mark, a rising star who helped
cinch Enron's $3 billion power plant in Dabhol, India, in the early '90s, is
named vice-chair. She had been a rival to Skilling as a successor to Chairman
and CEO Ken Lay.
JULY Enron pushes into foreign markets, paying
$1.3 billion for the main power distributor to São Paulo and $2.4 billion for
Britain's Wessex Water. Wessex becomes a building block for Mark's new global
water business, Azurix Corp.
APRIL, 1999 Enron agrees to pay
$100 million to name Houston's new baseball stadium Enron
Field.
JUNE Enron sells a third of Azurix to the public,
raising $695 million.
NOVEMBER Skilling launches EnronOnline, a
Net-based commodity trading platform. A few days later, proclaiming "this is Day
One of a potentially enormous market," he introduces trading of broadband
capacity.
JULY, 2000 Enron launches online metals
trading.
AUGUST A power shortage darkens California, and state
politicians blame Enron and other energy outfits. Problems at Azurix drive its
stock to $5, down from $19 at the IPO. Mark resigns as Azurix' chief and an
Enron director.
SEPTEMBER Enron launches online trading of wood
products.
DECEMBER Skilling is promoted to CEO, effective Feb.
2001. Enron's stock has soared 87% in 2000. Enron offers to take Azurix
private.
MARCH, 2001 California officials investigate alleged
price gouging by Enron and other power marketers.
JUNE Enron
execs sold shares in the first half as the stock slid 39%. Skilling's total:
$17.5 million.
AUGUST Skilling stuns investors by quitting, for
"personal reasons." Lay reclaims the CEO title.
OCT. 16 Enron
reports a third-quarter loss of $618 million and shrinks shareholder equity by
$1.2 billion, citing losses due partly to partnerships run by then-CFO Andrew
Fastow.
OCT. 22 Enron says the SEC has started an inquiry into
Fastow's partnerships. Two days later, he's out.
OCT. 31 Enron
sets up a committee to conduct an investigation of its
accounting.
NOV. 8 Net income is revised back through 1997,
trimming it by $586 million.
NOV. 9 Dynegy Corp. agrees to buy
Enron for $10 billion.
NOV. 15 Lay says Enron made billions of
dollars of "very bad investments."
NOV. 19 Enron says it may
have to repay a $690 million note and take a $700 million pretax
charge.
NOV. 28 Dynegy bails out of the merger after seeing
unanticipated debt and cash flow problems in Enron's 10Q filing. Enron's credit
is downgraded to junk status.
DEC. 2 Enron files for the
largest Chapter 11 reorganization in history.
