Whistleblower who opened investigation into Enron’s massive collapse talks to KPRC 2 about the ‘new’ Enron

HOUSTON – There’s a colorful slanted “E” that generates a lot of double-takes from the Southwest Freeway.

“It’s a very recognizable logo and trademark,” Sherron Watkins said.

Watkins has a deep history with the company “E” represents, Enron.

“For the past 20 years, I’ve been speaking around the world as the Enron Whistleblower,” Watkins said via Zoom on Monday afternoon.

Who can forget the lives destroyed by Enron in downtown Houston over 20 years ago? From one moment to the next, 20,000 people were thrown into the street. without severance pay or hard-earned pensions. It remains one of the largest bankruptcies in American history, KPRC 2 covered the scandal for years.

Now more than two decades after the crash, a sudden resurgence with a new CEO proclaiming on video, “Brace yourselves, it’s going to be the ride of a lifetime.”

The new Enron appears to be a parody by all accounts, but it’s not a “joke,” according to a company spokesperson (Yes, they have a spokesperson).

The website for the new Enron has pictures of its senior management, splashy videos and a clear message that they are now working to help solve the global energy crisis. The highly produced website and videos do not provide many details, but refer to the date of January 6, 2025 for an energy summit.

The new billboards and website have caught the eye of Watkins, who says benefit parody or not.

“It helps to make everyone aware of how these things happen and to be aware of the warning signs so it doesn’t happen again,” the former Enron employee said.

However, there are questions about the past coming back to life with all the destruction Enron has caused to Houstonians and others.

Enron’s sudden resurgence is reportedly reopening deep wounds for former employees, but not in the case of Watkins. The now nearly retired whistleblower says she and former colleagues who have seen the new Enron signs and stories are more amused than disturbed.

“They’re mainly laughing. It goes so well with kind of the remnants of Enron that some young people would be very entrepreneurial and rebrand and relaunch, tongue in cheek, so they’re mainly amused by it.”

We will of course follow the development of this new Enron up to the summit in early January.