ABSTRACT
The Enron Corp. was the product of a 1985 merger between Houston Natural Gas Corporation and InterNorth Inc., two well-established energy companies with extensive pipeline operations. InterNorth, one of the constructors of the Alaska pipeline, was the larger of the two companies and was the purchaser of Houston Natural Gas. InterNorth had been the target of a notorious corporate raider, Irwin Jacobs, before the merger with Houston Natural Gas, and the fear of his attack drove InterNorth into the arms of Houston Natural Gas. Kenneth Lay, the chairman and chief executive officer of Enron at its inception and upon its demise, was a self-made man. The Enron executive most responsible for the company’s collapse was Andrew Fastow, who worked his way up the ranks to become the company’s chief financial officer.
