ENRON was formed in 1985 through the merger of Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth. Led by CEO Kenneth Lay, by the late 1990s ENRON had become one of the largest companies in the US, employing around 29,000 people and reporting revenues of over $101 billion in 2000. However, through the use of accounting loopholes and off-balance sheet transactions, ENRON was actually heavily in debt and faced bankruptcy. On December 2, 2001, ENRON filed for bankruptcy, resulting in losses of billions of dollars for its shareholders and employees.