2 December 2001: Enron files for bankruptcy
Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, then the largest in US history, after revelations of accounting tricks used to hide debt and inflate profits. Its shares, which had traded near $90 in 2000, had become nearly worthless. Thousands of employees lost jobs and retirement savings heavily invested in company stock. The scandal also destroyed accounting firm Arthur Andersen and led to stricter corporate reporting rules.
The lesson: Never put most of your retirement savings in your employer's stock.
What it meant for investors
$1,000 in Enron at the start of 2000 → $0 today, vs $4,626 in the S&P 500.
We start the clock at the start of 2000, the latest year on the wheel. Enron went to zero, so the position is worth nothing at all; the index turned the same money into $4,626.
What Enron teaches: If you cannot understand how a company makes its money, the market may not either; complex accounting and opaque disclosures are warning signs, not features.
| Bought in | Price then | Worth today | S&P 500 would be |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | $5.00 | $0 | $19,429 |
| 1995 | $15.00 | $0 | $14,783 |
| 2000 | $44.00 | $0 | $4,626 |
green = beat the S&P 500 · red = lost money
What if you bought Enron? Every starting year and the full story →
More Enron history
- 30 July 2002: Sarbanes-Oxley signed into law
- 22 October 2001: Enron reveals the SEC is asking questions
Could you have called it at the time? The wheel picks the year, you pick the position, ten seconds a pick.
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