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The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
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Concluding that the energy crisis was bound to mean big changes for the staid old pipeline industry, Lay decided the time was ripe to exit the government and head into the world of business. In September 1973, less than a year after he arrived at the Interior Department, Lay put out a feeler to W. J. (Jack) Bowen, CEO of a midsize pipeline company
... See morePeter Elkind • The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
In a way, seen through the lens of the housing bubble, Enron even has some redeeming qualities. It genuinely was an innovative company that was trying to change and create businesses. It may well even have succeeded if its executives hadn’t been so intent on making profits appear in the company’s reported financial statements long before they
... See morePeter Elkind • The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
The Empire had begun life as a fast-freight forwarder, just one of the many companies that Scott and Thomson had created to pick the meatier bones left on the Pennsylvania’s table. Its superb chief executive, Col. Joseph Potts, had built it into a major transportation business in its own right, with a particularly strong position in petroleum.
... See moreCharles R. Morris • The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy
Enron also relied heavily on mark-to-market accounting to help it reach its earnings goals. Originally, mark-to-market had been used only in the accounting of natural gas futures contracts—that, after all, is what the Securities and Exchange Commission had agreed to back in 1991. Over the years, Enron had quietly extended the practice. It
... See morePeter Elkind • The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
The tale of Enron is a story of human weakness, of hubris and greed and rampant self-delusion; of ambition run amok; of a grand experiment in the deregulated world; of a business model that didn’t work; and of smart people who believed their next gamble would cover their last disaster—and who couldn’t admit they were wrong.
Peter Elkind • The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
Once, the company sent an analyst to pose as a porta-potty salesman. His task was to figure out how long a plant was supposed to be under construction so the traders could learn when it might start producing power. Enron sent analysts to meetings of the Washington State’s electric commission, where policy makers talked about the level of water in
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