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The Smartest Guys in the Room
- The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 20 hrs and 19 mins
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The Smartest Guys in the Room
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Summary
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.
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What listeners say about The Smartest Guys in the Room
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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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- 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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- 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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- 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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- Dermot Duncan
- 18-04-21
Great Listen!
Thoroughly enjoyed this book - quite long at 20 hrs but very engrossing. Crazy some of the things these guys got up to but very interesting all the same! Well worth a look.
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- Jake Ride
- 04-06-22
Compelling
Being too young to remember any details about the rise and fall of Enron beyond the general public narrative, I found this book fascinating.
The book gives a detailed, textured account of numerous significant transactions and the broader culture at Enron, all carefully stitched together so that the listener can follow the thread from Enron's early years, through incredibly complex corporate structures, confusing accounting practices, collusion with investment banks, rating agencies and accountants all the way through to Enron's collapse.
I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who didn't intricately follow the story at the time.
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- Anonymous User
- 29-07-22
Great listen
Very detailed story that led to the demise of enron. Explanation was very clear and the audio form was good (no graphs or tables needed). Narration was good too. Some can argue the book described too many different characters.
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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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