The Smartest Guys in the Room
The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
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The Smartest Guys in the Room
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Narrated by:
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Dennis Boutsikaris
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
What went wrong with American business at the end of the 20th century?
Until the spring of 2001, Enron epitomised 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.
©2020 Bethany McLean, Peter Elkind (P)2020 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Smartest Guys in the Room
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Gracee Power
- 22-12-23
Totally Insane
A fantastic insight into the totally insane scandal from Enron. Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it rips your face off. Amazing
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 15-12-22
Eye opening
To read how the 90s turned good honest men/women into greedy self absorbed money piranhas.
Well written, great narration & easy to follow. Found some of the explanations of particular trades & codes a little bit daunting as it’s an area not familiar with & more time in the actual employee who suffered- but in the whole recommended
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Olly Buxton
- 25-04-23
one of the greats of the financial canon
the classic story of the classic financial disaster. Enron had it all, and this is the definitive account, by the journalist who helped break the story.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 21-11-21
Still hard to believe they got away with it
The examples in this book of corporate and personal greed are eye-watering. Even several years on it’s still hard to believe the various checks and balances all failed, thereby allowing rogue senior execs and their accountants to wreak havoc at the expense of everyone except themselves
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- Fred
- 19-03-22
Incredible book
This book is so well researched, written and narrated I didn't want it to end.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Alex Marsh
- 18-02-24
Good but excessive detail
Good generally but a huge amount of dry detail. Could have been even better if it had focused on the human story and the individual characters even more
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- Auntie Joanne
- 25-03-23
A fascinating insight into human behaviour
What a brilliant listen! This story of the growth & decline of Enron is brilliantly written and describes in great detail how the financial markets in the 90’s were moved. I also took away how, in some people the desire to win & in others, to please & be accepted, can create a toxic environment when ethics & morals are ignored for personal gain.
The writers create a fantastic insight into the level of arrogance that appears to have perpetuated the motivation to win at any cost when left unchecked.
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- BLISSFULL
- 07-03-24
Excellent Retelling Of A Sorry Tale
It was excellent, but I could of done with a bit more focus of the various court cases .A pleasing narrative and very detailed.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Rob
- 21-05-24
A bit long.
This is well researched and presented, but it feels a little bit too long. A good insight into the whole Enron saga.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Brian B.
- 03-05-21
A testament to greed
A fascinating expose of the biggest bankruptcy in US history. The accounting frauds are well explained, and were inevitably discovered. A great book , which was well read.
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2 people found this helpful