Cyber Monday Deals: Enron 10th Anniversary Edition

Photo by eBay user bmackz

The Enron Code of Ethics and Conduct of Business Affairs

This week marks the tenth anniversary of the Enron collapse. StateImpact Texas’ local radio partner KUHF is reporting a four-part series on the aftermath, and the Houston Chronicle is taking a look back as well.

But for your own little piece of Enron history, you can head to eBay. The Chronicle’s Dan McGraw found some gifts for the collector in your family. Here’s a shopping list:

• You can read about Enron’s self-espoused “Vision and Values,” circa 1998 and 2000, in their Code of Ethics and Conduct of Business Affairs manuals. “Economic activities are better sorted out by markets than they are by governments,” the document says. The company also states that “our success is measured by the success of our customers.” There’s a “buy it now” option for $250.
• There’s also a stock certificate with Ken Lay’s signature, that mysteriously has two bids for it at $299. The Chronicle notes that this stock is worthless. “Remember, Enron’s stock peaked at $90 in 2000,” McGraw writes. “It certainly isn’t worth three times that now.”
• The Chronicle went looking for other Enron finds on eBay, and discovered an Enron rock paperweight with “integrity” inscribed underneath (no bids yet, bidding starts at $39.99), and the shovel used at the groundbreaking of a kids center at Enron. “Own a piece of this history!” the ad states. “This is the ONLY one of its kind… anywhere!!!” (zero bids, starts at $1,299).
• We did some searching of our own and found plenty to keep an Enron fan warm, from windbreakers to t-shirts to fleeces (the latter holding potential for added irony). You could pair any of them with a tie and Enron tie tack.