Birds aren’t real, and neither is the Enron relaunch

Enron posted an obscure hype video on X on Monday morning, alluding to “growth,” “change,” and “rebirth,” kickstarting speculation about what’s going on with the bankrupt energy company now.

I reached out to Enron’s PR team and a representative from media-strategy firm Stu Loeser & Co. replied, saying that they would have “more to share soon — including a big announcement in the energy space,” matching language seen on the company’s site:

But if you scroll the site, it feels… off. First, all mentions of “energy” are obscure at best, and the rest of the company’s listed values (Energy, Nurture, Repentant, Opportunity, and Nice) are accompanied by descriptions that are more whataboutisms than substance. Additionally, while Enron’s site has a careers page, where you can add your email address to get updates on job opportunities, the employee profiles on the page appear to be fake.

A reverse image search of “Aaron,” an HR manager at Enron, shows that it’s a stock photo from Getty Images.

The site’s terms of use also states: “THE INFORMATION ON THE WEBSITE IS FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTED PARODY, REPRESENTS PERFORMANCE ART, AND IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY.”

Who would relaunch the Enron brand under what appears to be a misleading (at best) website, and why? On the second point, it just feels like a crypto play, reminiscent of when Alex Mehr and crypto influencer Tai Lopez bought the rights to the RadioShack brand and tried to launch a cryptocurrency exchange called “RadioShack DeFi,” using the RadioShack X account to draw attention to their new project. (They have since sold the brand rights to UniComer Group, an El Salvadoran retail group that opened the first RadioShack in the Latin American county in 1998.)

One thing pointing in the direction of Enron’s relaunch being crypto-related is the message under the hype video warning readers that “this is the final tweet in this thread,” and any other posts below from impersonators are scams. These messages are common on virtually every big crypto account on X, such Trump’s World Liberty Financial. It’s interesting to see the Enron account lead with this despite no other mentions of cryptocurrencies.

Enron’s site also has a page for “decentralization,” saying: “True innovation doesn’t ask for permission. Decentralized technology is advancing, and we will of course have a role to play in its future. We couldn’t be more excited to show you, but until then please stay vigilant and avoid falling for scams. When we announce something, you’ll know.” Again, we have a vague “energy-related” announcement coming from a company that’s excited about decentralization and is warning its X followers about scam links, and an “Enron” LinkedIn page already posted a now deleted link to an Enron meme coin on Sun Pump.

I feel pretty confident that seven days from now, when the timer on Enron’s site hits zero, we’ll get a press release saying that Enron is launching a Web3 energy trading product on the blockchain. Or something like that.

My next question was who is running the Enron account, and the answer appears to be Connor Gaydos, the cofunder of “The College Company.” According to Enron’s Certificate of Incorporation, shared with me by the company’s comms rep, I saw that Gaydos is the sole incorporator of the business, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. According to its LinkedIn, The College Company “creates and operates clothing brands in the United States,” and it has served “notable names such as Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Kacey Musgraves, Brockhampton, and more.”

The College Company had owned the Enron trademark since June 2021, allowing it to legally sell merchandise with the Enron logo, and that trademark is now owned by Gaydos’ new Enron Corp. (For those curious, The College Company also owns one other trademark, “Birds Aren’t Real,” alluding to a Gen Z conspiracy theory that birds are government agents.)

Basically, Gaydos formed a new Delaware corporation, “Enron Corporation,” transferred the ownership of the Enron trademark to this new organization, and is now planning to launch something in the “energy space,” that, given the context clues on its X account and website, is almost certainly going to be a cryptocurrency.

If it feels like we’re entering a Golden Age of Grift, it’s because we probably are. I for one am excited for the launch of Enron Coin.