The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
Oct 2013 · Penguin UK
4.8star
32 reviewsreport
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480
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About this ebook
What went wrong with American business at the end of the 20th century?
Until the spring of 2001, Enron epitomized the triumph of the New Economy. Feared by rivals, worshipped by investors, Enron seemingly could do no wrong. Its profits rose every year; its stock price surged ever upward; its leaders were hailed as visionaries.
Then a young Fortune writer, Bethany McLean, wrote an article posing a simple question - how, exactly, does Enron make its money?
Within a year Enron was facing humiliation and bankruptcy, the largest in US history, which caused Americans to lose faith in a system that rewarded top insiders with millions of dollars, while small investors lost everything. It was revealed that Enron was a company whose business was an illusion, an illusion that Wall Street was willing to accept even though they knew what the real truth was. This book tells the extraordinary story of Enron's fall.
'The best book about the Enron debacle to date' BusinessWeek
'The authors write with power and finesse. Their prose is effortless, like a sprinter floating down the track' USA Today
'Well-reported and well-written' Warren Buffett
Until the spring of 2001, Enron epitomized the triumph of the New Economy. Feared by rivals, worshipped by investors, Enron seemingly could do no wrong. Its profits rose every year; its stock price surged ever upward; its leaders were hailed as visionaries.
Then a young Fortune writer, Bethany McLean, wrote an article posing a simple question - how, exactly, does Enron make its money?
Within a year Enron was facing humiliation and bankruptcy, the largest in US history, which caused Americans to lose faith in a system that rewarded top insiders with millions of dollars, while small investors lost everything. It was revealed that Enron was a company whose business was an illusion, an illusion that Wall Street was willing to accept even though they knew what the real truth was. This book tells the extraordinary story of Enron's fall.
'The best book about the Enron debacle to date' BusinessWeek
'The authors write with power and finesse. Their prose is effortless, like a sprinter floating down the track' USA Today
'Well-reported and well-written' Warren Buffett
Ratings and reviews
4.8
32 reviews
Mike Cooper
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October 31, 2019
A brilliant page turner that I could not put down.
1 person found this review helpful
Guillaume Thomazi
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July 1, 2019
A must read for anyone working in finance, and probably anyone working in a large company.
4 people found this review helpful
Anil Das
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November 22, 2020
AAA
5 people found this review helpful
About the author
Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind are Fortune senior writers. McLean's March 2001 article in Fortune, "Is Enron Overpriced?," was the first in a national publication to openly question the company's dealings. Elkind, an award-winning investigative reporter, has written for The New York Times Magazine and The Washington Post.
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