Enron's Death Star Trading Strategy

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Death Star was a scheme where Enron filed an imaginary transmission schedule in order to get paid to alleviate congestion that didn't really exist. Get Shorty, selling power that Enron didn't actually have for use as reserves with the expectation that it would never be called upon to supply the power. Ricochet, where Enron would work with someone who's generating power in California and export it out of the state so they could do that.

The FTX fraud has dominated headlines now for weeks, during which we’ve debated if and how Acquired could uniquely add to the conversation. Then we realized there was an angle so perfect that we had to drop everything and enter Acquired research overdrive: Enron. Travel back with us to the granddaddy fraud of them all, 2001’s then-largest bankruptcy in US history and the impetus for the famous Sarbanes-Oxley Act. So much of Enron’s history parallels FTX that the uncanniness is almost unbelievable — right down to the same CEO running the two bankruptcies. Sit back and enjoy this crazy tale of villainy, greed, and the nature of humans and money. Maybe just don’t take notes on this one…

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‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.