15. Enron
Year: 2001
Approx. Amount: $11 Billion*
Company / Person Involved: Enron Corporation
Based on revenue alone, the Houston-based energy company, Enron, was once the seventh-largest company in America. However, with some under-the-table deals, and deceitful bookkeeping, Enron managed to keep hundreds of millions of dollars in debt hidden, in what is now one of the most well-known scandals in recent history.
Enron ©Johnny Hanson / Gettyimages.com
All great webs, eventually, come unraveled, and that’s exactly what happened to Enron in 2001. Thousands upon thousands of documents that verified the accounting fraud were shredded and, in late 2001, Enron’s share price dropped from just north of $90 to just under 30 cents. Former CEO Jeffrey Skilling was sentenced to 24 years in prison (released after 12) and was made to forfeit $45 million.