Enron Corporation used to be a leading American energy, commodities, and services company. Fortune magazine named Enron “Americas Most Innovative Company” for six years straight, and the company claimed $101 billion in revenues in 2000. It also staffed nearly 20,000 employees at one point in time.

It was on this day, August 14, 2001, that amidst rumors of a troubled company, Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling resigned, citing personal reasons as the cause for his departure. It was under Skilling that Enron implemented mark to market accounting, which allowed the company to claim anticipated future market value instead of present value. By February of 2001, Skilling became CEO and make $132 million in one year. His plan was to keep the energy prices in America unnecessarily high. After his resignation, he sold large blocks of his shares and the company declared bankruptcy months after in December of 2001.

Soon thereafter, it became clear that Enron had committed accounting fraud and was led by corrupt leaders. Jeffrey Skilling was convicted of multiple federal felony charges in 2006 and is serving a 24-year, four-month sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Colorado.