This documentary takes a behindthe scenes look at the powerful energy company whose. Enron and the fall of arthur andersen enron s fall 2001 collapse wound up taking down the accounting firm arthur andersen, too. The smartest guys in the room it is a story about the greed in corporate america that is always exposed after the fact. The enron task forces efforts resulted in the convictions of nearly all of enron s executive management team, said michael e. Enron corporation is an energy trading, natural gas, and electric utilities company located in houston, texas that had around 21,000 employees by mid2001, before it went bankrupt.
It was founded in 1985 as a merger between houston natural gas and internorth, both relatively small regional companies. Enron collapsed not so much because it had gotten too big, but because it was perceived to be much bigger than it. The collapse of enron and the subsequent collapse of arthur andersen were tremendous tragedies. The meteoric rise and stunning collapse of enron caused many to question why the watchdog system that was supposed to protect investors failed to sound any alarms about the. 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. The smartest guys in the room is a 2005 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. This is a cleanedup enron record that has identified and. Mr lay says he and his family are still grieving over the collapse of the. The smartest guys in the room full movie hd film enron. More about the enron collapse and erp system collapse of enron collapse of enron enron was an american energy company in huston, texas and was formed in 1932 in omaha, nebraska. The film, which stars brian dennehy, christian kane and mike farrell, and was directed by penelope spheeris, was a ratings hit for the network. Enron email records contain approximately 500,000 emails created by enron corporation employees. The smartest guys in the room was assigned viewing as part of our unit on business ethics and all i can. I guess the enron collapse, and the other corporations that collapsed around the same time such as worldcom were sort of a harbinger of the crisis that was to arise in 2008, however just as with the events that surrounded enron, it seems that the response to the global financial crisis was simply to sweep the problem under the table, make sure the stock market starts rising again, and go on.
I would recommend anyone who wants a basic understanding of the rise and fall of enron to see this movie. From the 1990s until the fall of 2001, enron was famous throughout the business world and. It is the first in a new series assessing organisations against acgs golden rules of corporate governance and applying our proprietary rating tool as we say in our business ethics examples homepage introducing this series, the first and most critical rule is an ethical approach, and this should. Enron s swift collapse left the prospects of 21,000 employees in doubt and wiped out what was left of the holdings of stock investors, including some. This is a good film to get an overview of how bad enron was before its collapse. The smartest guys in the room 2005 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. But the new regulations said nothing about limiting executive compensation, despite a growing public outcry over the millions that enron executives were being paid prior to its collapse. It tells the story of how enron rose to become the seventh largest corporation in america with what was essentially a ponzi scheme, and in its last days looted the retirement funds of.
But the debate over corporate conduct remains relevant. Looking back at the rise and fall of enron houston chronicle. The story of enron corporation depicts a company that reached dramatic heights only to face a dizzying fall. Not to mention that enrons collapse was accompanied by lays draining of. But as i stated at the time of my indictment on july 8, 2004, failure does not equate to a crime. Download now after enron addresses the major lessons about accounting, auditing, taxation, and corporate governance that are illustrated by the collapse of enron and other recent major corporate scandals. In 2000, enron was the darling of wall street, the largest seller of natural gas in north america, the fifth largest corporation in the united states, and the nations most innovative large company according to fortune magazine. The smartest guys in the room tells some of the story of enron s collapse.
Who would think a documentary about the collapse of a mammoth corporation. Tracing the market boom and bust that preceded enron s collapse, as well as the aftermath of that failure, the book chronicles the meltdown in the telecom sector. The smartest guys in the room by bethany mclean pdf download. Enron case study history, ethics and governance failures. The sudden collapse of energy giant enron will have global consequences for many banks and insurance companies who were involved in its energy trading and supply activities.
Was it the business model or the management systems and processes which primarily caused the collapse. The smartest guys in the room full movie hd film slideshare. Writerdirector alex gibney examines the rise and fall of an infamous corporate juggernaut in enron. The smartest guys in the room subtitles 14 subtitles. The smartest guys in the room is a film that lays out almost all of the important points of the story in 110 minutes, and helps clarify many of the reasons why it was able to happen, while avoiding the sort of tendentiosity that many middleoftheroad americans find offensive or tiresome in liberalslanted attacks on corporate abuses. Mclean and elkind are credited as writers of the film alongside the director, alex gibney. Pdf the lesson from enron case moral and managerial. This enron case study presents our own analysis of the spectacular rise and fall of enron. Enron corporation was an american energy, commodities, and services company based in houston, texas.
What internal and external factors that led to the collapse. Enron company founded in 1985, by merging gas companies. 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. Enron scandal, series of events that resulted in the bankruptcy of the u.
Kenneth lay was the ceo and chairperson of the company, he hold a ph. The conventional wisdom is that it was innovative accounting practices and their consequences that started the tide of losses that brought the energy giant down. After enron addresses the major lessons about accounting, auditing, taxation, and corporate governance that are illustrated by the collapse of enron. The movie argues that it was a con game almost from the start the documentary is based on the bestselling book of the same title, cowritten by fortune magazines bethany mclean and peter elkind. At the time of the collapse, enron was the largest bankruptcy in history. The lesson from enron case moral and managerial responsibilities. 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. Watch enron the smartest guys in the room prime video. 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. This documentary takes a behindthescenes look at the powerful energy company whose.
Chronology of a collapse behind the enron scandal time. The amazing rise and scandalous fall of enron is a business book that describes the enron scandal brought down that is one of the most admired companies in the 1990s. Watch cnbcs full interview with ray dalio on the lessons from the financial crisis duration. They lower their ratings on enron stock, which drops in afterhours trading to a 52week low. Alex gibney examines the rise and fall of an infamous corporate juggernaut. It starts with living and breathing the mission statement and conveying those values with all.
Tracing the market boom and bust that preceded enron s collapse, as well as the aftermath of that failure, the book chronicles the meltdown in the telecom sector that gave rise to accounting scandals globally. The enron scandal, publicized in october 2001, eventually led to the bankruptcy of the enron. Before its bankruptcy on december 3, 2001, enron employed approximately 29,000 staff and was a major electricity, natural gas, communications and pulp and paper company. Download the smartest guys in the room by bethany mclean pdf ebook free. A definitive new reference on the major failures of american corporate governance at the start of the 21st century. Remember the companys television commercial of not so long ago, ending with the reverberating phrase, ask why, why, why. October 12 arthur andersen legal counsel instructs workers who audit enron s books to destroy all but the most basic documents. Enron is formed by a merger of pipeline companies houston natural gas and internorth, a deal led by new ceo ken lay. The tale is weaved afresh in a featurelength documentary, enron.
Did the enron scandal really change executive compensation. The fated companys collapse affected thousands of employees and shook wall street to. It was purchased by the federal energy regulatory commission ferc while investigating the enron collapse. Cbs is betting that its madefortelevision movie about enron s collapse, the crooked e, will be compelling enough to keep viewers from switching channels. A documentary about the enron corporation, its faulty and corrupt business. If youre like most, youve been astonished, disillusioned and angered as you learned of the meteoric rise and fall of enron corp. Anderson, assistant special agent in charge of the fbis. The crooked e the unshredded truth about enron 2003. Kenneth lay was the founder of the company, first founded in omaha nebraska and then it moved to houston texas.
1385 512 873 163 725 714 126 285 297 16 898 1430 156 262 1217 792 898 64 777 214 771 938 186 474 1426 1643 825 227 986 212 1179 710 553 1140 251 1177 273 1202 1176 318 75 654