Enron is clearly messing with us, but company insists it’s not all a ‘joke’

HOUSTON – Enron came out of nowhere in early December, teasing an apparent comeback and the internet went crazy.

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The disgraced company picked an impeccable time to take to social media with a 60-second ad with the caption: “We’re back. Can we talk?”

The date, December 2, 2024, marked more than 20 years since one of the largest bankruptcy filings in U.S. history. The “resurrected” energy company picked another troubling date to announce another announcement during a summit on January 6, 2025.

There’s a video that was added fairly recently where you can “Meet the CEO,” Connor Gaydos. When you do a quick search on Gaydos, a book called “Birds Aren’t Real” pops up that’s a satirical take on conspiracy theorists.

A spokesperson for Enron confirmed it’s that very Gaydos and the website’s Terms and Conditions that the site is a parody, but stressed that the company is not a “joke” and is serious about working to help solve the global energy crisis.

Re-watching Gaydos’ introductory video with that in mind is almost like re-watching an episode of Silicon Valley.

From a comedic standpoint, the commitment to the joke is admirable. Especially since the homepage featured a giant banner that last week said a week from now, they “have something very special to introduce.” Although not a lot of people find it funny, especially those who had a lot to lose.

Once the nation’s seventh-largest company, Enron filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 2, 2001, after years of accounting tricks could no longer hide billions of dollars in debt or make failing ventures appear profitable. The energy company’s collapse put more than 5,000 people out of work and wiped out more than $2 billion in employee pensions. Its aftershocks were felt throughout the energy sector.

24 Enron executives, including former CEO Jeffrey Skilling, were convicted for their roles in the fraud. Enron founder Ken Lay’s convictions were vacated after he died of heart disease following his 2006 trial.

Back when the announcement was first made, it was unclear what “Enron” was planning to do because, despite its claim to open up a conversation, the company said a whole bunch of nothing. Even its sleek new website only features vague testimonials about comeback stories, and corporate stock images that could easily be mistaken for real.

MORE: Is Enron back? If it’s a joke, some former employees aren’t laughing

There’s also a link to job openings with “employee testimonials” and a full-length video titled “I am Enron” that boasts movie-trailer-like qualities, from a baritone-voiced narrator to rockets launching into space. It’s almost “too good to be true,” and that’s because it is.

There’s a video that was added fairly recently where you can “Meet the CEO,” Connor Gaydos. The only thing you can find out by “meeting” him is that Gaydos has studied enough CEO videos to make a perfectly satirical display and capture an ethos of what a CEO “looks like.” It’s almost like re-watching Silicon Valley.

When you do a quick search on Gaydos, a book called “Birds Aren’t Real” pops up that’s a satirical take on conspiracy theorists.

According to publicly available documents via the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Enron’s trademark was purchased back in 2020 by “The College Company, LLC” based in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

How though? The spokesperson wouldn’t say. So, in essence, the “company” does take itself seriously in whatever commitment it has but would not disclose at this time.