The amazing rise and scandalous fall of enron is a book by bethany mclean and peter elkind, first published in 2003 by portfolio trade. Writerdirector alex gibney examines the rise and fall of an infamous corporate juggernaut in enron. Smartest guys in the room is a story of greed, arrogance, and deceita microcosm of all that is wrong with american business today. Drawing on a wide range of unique sources, the book follows enrons rise from obscurity to the. Mclean and elkind worked on the book when they both were fortune senior writers. But a chain of events lead to an enormous shock on the wall street and went down in history as one of the biggest business scandals. The smartest guys in the room pdf summary bethany mclean. Drawing on a wide range of unique sources, the book follows enrons rise from obscurity to the top of the business world to its disastrous demise. The smartest guys in the room by bethany mclean, peter elkind. July 5, 2006 fortunes bethany mclean wrote about enron in the book the smartest guys in the room. Dennis boutsikaris is a fairly good reader for nonfiction. Like its subject, the smartest guys in the room is ambitious, grand in scope, and ruthless in its dealings. In 2005, it was adapted into a documentary film, enron. The smartest guys in the room audiobook by bethany.
With john beard, tim belden, barbara boxer, george w. Enron the smartest guys in the room book summary free essays. Enron dives from the seventh largest us company to bankruptcy in less than a year in this tale told chronologically. And thirty years later, if youre going to read only one book on watergate. K en lay, jeffrey skilling, andrew fastow, and the rest of enrons upper management weasels are easy targets for condemnation, but rather than simply provide a damning critique of the company, alex gibneys enron. The bad practices were begun to hide losses and prop up stock price. And just as all the presidents men was the one watergate book that gave readers the full story, with all the drama and nuance, the smartest guys in the room is the one book you have to read to understand this amazing business saga. The smartest guys in the room, allows the crooksvia congressional hearing footage, videos of inhouse company speeches, phone conversations, and television. Peter elkind just as watergate was the defining political story of its time, so enron is the biggest business story of our time. Countless books and articles were written about it, but only the smartest guys in the room holds up a decade later as the definitive narrative. Meticulously researched and character driven, smartest guys in the room takes the reader deep into enrons pastand behind the.
The smartest guys in the room frauds and financial scandals in the business world were before an enrons case and will be after it. The emphasis is on human drama, from suicide to 20,000 people sacked. And just as all the presidents men was the one watergate book that gave readers. The film, based on the book by fortune magazine reporters bethany mclean and peter elkind, opens with a reenactment of the suicide of enron executive cliff baxter, then travels. The smartest guys in the room, which he wrote and directed. Released theatrically by magnolia pictures and nominated for an academy award, the film chronicles one of the greatest corporate disasters in history, in which top. Above all, its a fascinating human drama that will prove to be the authoritative account of the enron scandal. The smartest guys in the room is the inside story of one of americas greatest business scandals, in which top executives of the countrys seventh largest company walked away with more than. These blinks detail a gripping story of financial deceit, while shedding light on the personalities that built enrons corporate culture and set it up for disaster. Based on the book by fortune magazine reporters bethany mclean and peter elkind, the film explores the lengths to which the company went in order to appear incredibly profitable, and reveals how lay, skilling, and other execs managed to keep their riches, while thousands of lowerlevel employees saw their loyalty. The smartest guys in the room enron corporation was an energy, commodities, and service company out of houston, texas founded by kenneth lay in 1985 lay built natural gas power energy in east texas which helped enrons stock rise. Alex gibney, who wrote and produced eugene jareckis the trials of henry kissinger, examines the rise and fall of an infamous corporate juggernaut in enron. Alex gibney examines the rise and fall of an infamous corporate juggernaut. The smartest guys in the room summary enron digs a deeper hole.
The book does a very good job of explaining the history of the company, ken lays involvement in it, and his mentality and motivations. The smartest guys in the room reprises the same booktofilm formula to powerful effect, perhaps because gibney took. The smartest guys in the room by bethany mclean pdf. The amazing rise and scandalous fall of enron is a business book that describes enron scandal. Bethany mclean and peter elkind are the authors of this book. The smartest guys in the room was assigned viewing as part of our unit on business ethics and all i can say is wow. Peter elkind is an awardwinning investigative reporter and the coauthor of the national bestseller, about.
Today, enron is the biggest business story of our time, and fortune senior writers bethany mclean and peter elkind. The smartest guys in the room by bethany mclean is a detailed account of the rise and fall of enron and it gives the most insight into the actions of lay, skilling, and fastow. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the smartest guys in the room. The title of bethany mclean and peter elkinds 2003 book about the rise and fall of enron is conveyed with a knowing wink. The executives and insiders at enron knew about the offshore accounts that were hiding losses for the company.
For this tenth anniversary edition, mclean and elkind have revisited the fall of enron and its aftermath, in a new chapter that asks why enron still matters. The smartest guys in the room by mclean, bethany ebook. The amazing rise and scandalous fall of enron kindle edition by mclean, bethany, elkind, peter, nocera, joe. The failure of enron in the early 2000s is one of the largest bankruptcies in us history with lehman brothers in 2008 as the largest. Countless books and articles were written about it, but only the smartest guys. The smartest guys in the room 2003 tells the remarkable tale of energy trader enron once a poster child for market innovation on wall street and its dramatic fall from stratospheric heights. The smartest guys in the room by bethany mclean, peter. Investors on the fringes of the financial world feverishly seek new alternatives for highreturn investments in the global markets, and have found a goldmine in. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
The amazing rise and scandalous fall of enron is a book by bethany mclean and peter elkind, first published in 2003 by. Basically any principle of business ethics articulated in textbooks on business was violated in the greed fueled pursuit of profits. It starts after background on ken lay when lay becomes ceo of houston natural gas in 1984 and concludes with the collapse of enron late in 2001, with an epilogue covering the further trials and criminal. The smartest guys in the room is a 2005 documentary film based on the bestselling 2003 book of the. Written by two senior writers for fortune magazine, the smartest guys in the room is a comprehensive history and analysis of the rise of enron and its dramatic and catastrophic collapse. The unshredded truth about enron, a television movie aired by cbs in january 2003 based on the book anatomy of greed by brian cruver. The smartest guys in the room takes viewers from the heyday of soaring profits through the prolonged fallout, including the. Louis borget, andrew fastow, and jeffery skilling were the top management executives from 1985. The smartest guys in the room is a 2005 american documentary film based on the bestselling 2003 book of the same name by fortune reporters bethany mclean and peter elkind, a study of one of the largest business scandals in american history. Meticulously researched and character driven, smartest guys in the room takes the reader deep into enrons pastand behind the closed doors of private meetings. Ethical issues in enron the smartest guys in the room.
Based on the book by fortune magazine reporters bethany mclean and peter elkind, the film explores the lengths to which the company went in order to appear incredibly profitable, and reveals how kenneth lay, jeff skilling, and other execs managed to keep their. Summary of the film the smartest guys in the room free. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the smartest guys in the room. The tenthanniversary edition of the definitive account of the enron scandal, updated with a new chapter the enron scandal brought down one of the most admired companies of the 1990s. I find his reading a bit slow, but perhaps its good for complicated material. The smartest guys in the room is a very well researched and exhaustive account haha, see what i did there. A fascinating exploration of corporate culture and epic misdeeds, enron. The enron scandal brought down one of the most admired companies of the 1990s. Unlike enron, the texasbased energy giant that has come.
This book fully updated for the paperback tells the extraordinary story of enrons fall. Enron grew from a pipeline company to an economic powerhouse by playing the middle man, selling long term gas contracts to buyers for a fixed price and. Countless books and articles were written about it, but only. Mclean and elkind are credited as writers of the film alongside the director, alex gibney. Meticulously researched and character driven, smartest guys in the room takes the reader deep into enrons pastand behind the closed doors of private. Just as watergate was the defining political story of its time, so enron is the biggest business story of our time. The smartest guys in the room comes a wall street heist story about a stillunfolding financial crime so big, it has the power to affect all of our wallets. Now, mclean and elkind have investigated much deeper, to offer the definitive book about the enron scandal and the fascinating people behind it. A documentary about the enron corporation, its faulty and corrupt. Based on the bestselling book of the same name by fortune reporters bethany mclean and peter elkind, enron. The smartest guys in the room is a 2005 oscarnominated documentary by alex gibney which charts the rise, peak, and fall of the energy corporation enron. Using a combination of public hearing footage and new interviews with former enron.
1359 67 423 910 647 31 994 80 90 602 166 189 120 317 114 79 477 589 766 1334 1374 333 291 1159 1133 590 1130 40 470 741 1061 289 1434 1027