Enron: The Rise and Fall

By Loren Fox

Book Overview

"I'd say you were a carnival barker, except that wouldn't be fair tocarnival barkers. A carnie will at least tell you up front that he's running a shell game. You, Mr. Lay, were running what purported to be the seventh largest corporation in America."-Senator Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL) to Enron CEO Kenneth Lay, Senate Commerce Science & Transportation's Subcommittee, Hearing on Enron, 2/12/02 The speed of Enron's rise and fall is truly astonishing and perhaps the single most important story of corporate failure in the twenty-first century. In Enron investigative journalist Loren Fox promises readers nothing short of the most compelling and insightful investigation into Enron's meteoric ascent-regarded by Wall Street and the media as the epitome of innovation-and its spectacular fall from grace. In a lively and authoritative manner, Fox discusses how the biggest corporate bankruptcy in American business history happened, why for so long no one (except for an enlightened few) saw it coming, and what its impact will be on financial markets, the U.S. economy, U.S. energy policy, and the public for years to come. With access to many company insiders, Fox's intriguing account of this corporate debacle also provides an overview of the corporate culture and business model that led to Enron's high-flying success and disastrous failure. The story of Enron is one that will reverberate in global financial and energy markets as well as in criminal and civil courts for years to come. Rife with all the elements of a classic thriller-scandal, dishonest accounting, personal greed, questionable campaign contributions, suicide-Enron captures the essence of a company that went too far too fast.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471237604
• ISBN13: 9780471237600
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Solid

Good, solid background on the history of Enron and its missteps. If you're interested in one stop shopping for an understanding of Enron the corporation from start to finish, this is the best out there so far.

Better than the Cruver book

I am a former Enron employee from the mid-1990s. I do not hold any bitter or bad feelings from my exeperience there and firmly believe that I have benefitted from the experience. I have also previously read and reviewed the Cruver book stating that there would be other books giving a better perspective of the issues. Loren Fox's Enron: The Rise and Fall is one of those books.Like a good non-fiction business writer, Fox takes a global approach in helping the reader understand what happened at Enron. He immediately lays out the working thesis that the collapse of Enron was symptomatic of the corporate culture at Enron but also reflective of the business environment at-large throughout the eighties and nineties. Even with this viewpoint in mind, he too acknowledges that he lacks all the answers because many of the outcomes from Enron's collapse are still in flux (e.g. Will Fastow go to jail? Will Lay and Skilling get indicted) and the ultimate impacts on corporate America are unclear (e.g. Where is Sbarnes-Oxley taking us?). To support his thesis, Fox presents a well-researched book presenting the key players in the evolution of the energy giant. He provides the background information on the deregulation of the natural gas industry that led to the formation of Enron. He anlayzed the dueling business strategies of ECT and EI run by Skilling and Mark. With Skilling winning the political infighting, the off-balance sheet shennanigans became more important to obtaining the capital needed to support his grandiose visions. That is where Fastow and Kopper come in. Relative to other journalists including Pulitzer Prize winner Rebecca Smith, Fox better understands and explains the nature of the off-balance sheet transactions (e.g. often a form of Islamic financing but also more complex structures) created by these two but always adding color to story with his inside look at the key personalities (e.g. Kaminski saying, "This is so terminally stupid only Fastow could come up with it."). It is obvious that Fox has had access and discussions with some very senior managers at Enron in completing this project. Despite that, it still feels as if he has only gotten part of the story. Still I must commend him for the best effort to date.

Crackling good read

I wasn't sure what happenend at Enron until I read this book. The author lays it all out in a well-written, fast-paced narrative: how Enron grew from pipeline operator to trading company; why Enron broke the law to fund its growth; how the revelation of its accounting misdeeds caused the company to collapse. Fox reveals such pearls as the fact that Enron's cut-throat culture encouraged employees to sabotage each other, and that arrogant Enron executives made critical decisions with shockingly little forethought. And it's all written so that the general reader without business expertise can understand this dramatic story. Highly recommended.

The real story

A must read for the real scoop. Loren Fox has done a first-rate job detailing the history of Enron and the innovative business model that fueled it's early success. He takes pains to point out where the seeds of Enron's destruction were sown, explaining in enough detail for the business novice to understand the rather arcane financial deals that were the company's main source of "income." Delving much more deeply than a mere overview, there is a wealth of company and industry sources used to provide fascinating detail to the arrogance that enabled the company to pull the wool over so many people's eyes.

The Whole Story Here!

Loren Fox has done an excellent job detailing the actual events behind Enron and its demise. This book will appeal to any business and finance person. It's not just a recap of the headlines with flip stories. Rather, this is an indepth look at the original Enron business model and how it was used to set up fraudulent partnerships, etc. I was really impressed with the level of detail the author provided. He clearly has a deep understanding of the behind the scenes exchanges and access to excellent sources. Well done and should become the definitive book on Enron.