Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 20,600 staff and was a major electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper company, with claimed revenues of nearly $101 billion during 2000. Fortune named Enron "America's Most Innovative Company" for six consecutive years.
The Harken Energy Scandal refers to a series of transactions entered into during 1990 involving Harken Energy. These transactions are alleged to involve either issues relating to insider trading, or influence peddling. Although no wrongdoings were found by any investigating authorities, the matter generated political controversy.
Arbusto Energy was an oil and gas exploration firm started in 1977 by former U.S. president George W. Bush. In 1984, the company merged with Spectrum 7 Energy Corp.
Tesoro Corporation, known briefly as Andeavor, was a Fortune 100 and a Fortune Global 500 company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, with 2017 annual revenues of $35 billion, and over 14,000 employees worldwide. Based on 2017 revenue, the company ranked No. 90 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.
BP Canada was a Canadian petroleum company and subsidiary of British Petroleum that existed between 1955 and 1992. The name refers to a group of companies that engaged in various segments of the petroleum industry lifecycle. BP entered the Canadian market in October 1953 when it purchased a 23 percent stake in the Triad Oil Company. In 1955, BP formed a Canadian subsidiary, based in Montreal, called BP Canada Limited. The company began acquiring retail stations in Ontario and Quebec and in 1957 started construction on a refinery in Montreal. By the end of the 1950s BP Canada was a fully-integrated operation. In 1964 it acquired from Cities Service the Oakville Refinery, and then expanded its operations significantly in 1971 when it acquired Supertest Petroleum.
Marathon Oil Corporation is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration incorporated in Ohio and headquartered in the Marathon Oil Tower in Houston, Texas. A direct descendant of Standard Oil, it also runs international gas operations focused on Equatorial Guinea, offshore Central Africa.
The Harvard University endowment, valued at $53.2 billion as of June 2021, is the largest academic endowment in the world. Its value increased by over 10 billion dollars in fiscal year 2021, ending the year with its largest sum in history. Along with Harvard's pension assets, working capital, and non-cash gifts, the endowment is managed by Harvard Management Company, Inc. (HMC), a Harvard-owned investment management company.
Hess Corporation is an American global independent energy company involved in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. It was formed by the merger of Hess Oil and Chemical and Amerada Petroleum in 1968. Leon Hess served as CEO from the early 1960s through 1995, after which his son John B Hess succeeded him as chairman and CEO.
Prior to his election as president in 2000, George W. Bush held other positions including being an oil executive, an owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, and the governor of Texas.
Michael R. Eisenson is a managing director and co-chairman of Charlesbank Capital Partners, LLC, a private equity investment firm based in Boston and New York. Eisenson co-founded the firm in 1998 and served as its CEO until 2017. Charlesbank raised its most recent fund, Charlesbank Equity Fund IX, in 2017, with $2.75 billion of investor commitments.
Prisma Energy International Inc., was a former subsidiary of Enron Corporation, formed in 2003 to own and manage the majority of Enron's overseas assets, formerly known as "Enron International". Prior to its official organization, Prisma was referred to within Enron as "InternationalCo". Enron's original bankruptcy reorganization plan, presented in early 2002, would have created a company broadly similar to Prisma, but including Portland General Electric and the energy trading business, both later divested separately. As one of the final steps in Enron's liquidation, following their 2001 bankruptcy, Prisma was sold to Ashmore Energy International Ltd., a unit of Ashmore Group Plc., in 2006. Prisma was structured as an 'offshore' United States corporation incorporated in the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands, but with its headquarters in Houston, Texas. It served as a holding company for 15 gas and electricity businesses. Its subsidiary, Prisma Energy International Services LLC, employed approximately 125 individuals, most at its headquarters in Houston, Texas. Assets in which Prisma Energy managed an interest employed an additional 6,500 employees worldwide. Following its 2006 sale to Ashmore Energy International Limited, Prisma Energy International Inc. was merged/amalgamated with Ashmore Energy International Limited with Prisma Energy being the survivor company. In December 2006, Prisma Energy International Inc. changed its name to Ashmore Energy International and, subsequently, in May 2007 to AEI.
EOG Resources, Inc. is an American energy company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration. It is organized in Delaware and headquartered in the Heritage Plaza building in Houston, Texas.
Lou Lung Pai is a Chinese-American businessman and former Enron executive. He was CEO of Enron subsidiaries Enron Energy Services and Enron Xcelerator, a venture capital division. He left Enron with over $250 million. Pai was the second-largest land owner in Colorado after he purchased the 77,500-acre (314 km2) Taylor Ranch for $23 million in 1999, though he sold the property in June 2004 for $60 million.
Kenneth Lee Lay was an American businessman who was the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Enron. He was heavily involved in the eponymous accounting scandal that unraveled in 2001 into the largest bankruptcy ever to that date. Lay was indicted by a grand jury and was found guilty of 10 counts of securities fraud at trial. Lay died in July 2006 while vacationing in his house near Aspen, Colorado, three months before his scheduled sentencing. A preliminary autopsy reported Lay died of a heart attack caused by coronary artery disease. His death resulted in a vacated judgment.
Formed in December 1999, Acción de Lucha Anti-Petrola (ADELA) is a Costa Rican grassroots environmental group created to oppose offshore oil exploration and drilling. Translated into English as "Anti-Petroleum Action," ADELA is named after a local indigenous woman who was "struggling to defend her culture and local environment against outside forces." ADELA initially consisted of 30 local citizen's groups ranging from farmers' organizations and the fisherman's union, to religious groups, small business owners, and marine biologists. ADELA now comprises over 100 local citizens' organizations. The various groups came together to form ADELA after becoming aware of the negative environmental impact of seismic reflection explorations being conducted by Harken Costa Rica Holdings in November 1999.
The Enron scandal was an accounting scandal involving Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. Upon being publicized in October 2001, the company declared bankruptcy and its accounting firm, Arthur Andersen – then one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world – was effectively dissolved. In addition to being the largest bankruptcy reorganization in U.S. history at that time, Enron was cited as the biggest audit failure.
Coastal Corporation was a diversified energy and petroleum products company headquartered at 9 Greenway Plaza in Greenway Plaza, Houston, Texas. The company was founded in 1955 by Oscar Wyatt and incorporated in 1955 as Coastal States Gas Producing Company. It merged with the El Paso Corporation in 2001. As of 1999, Coastal was a Fortune 500 company with 13,300 employees and annual revenues of $8.2 billion.
Robert W. Jordan is an American lawyer and diplomat. He served as the United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2002 to 2003, under President George W. Bush.
Carl Michael "Mike" Smith is an American businessman, energy expert, and politician from Oklahoma. Smith is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. Smith has served in numerous energy policy positions for both the United States federal and Oklahoma state governments, including Assistant Secretary of Energy for Fossil Energy under President George W. Bush (2002–2004) and Oklahoma Secretary of Energy under Governor of Oklahoma Frank Keating (1995–2002).
SEACOR Holdings, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, provides equipment and services to the offshore petroleum industry and the marine transportation industry.
$385 thousand (2016)