Enron: The Rise and Fall - Softcover

Fox, Loren

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0471478881 ISBN 13: 9780471478881

Publisher: Wiley, 2003

Synopsis

"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.

About this title

About the Author

LOREN FOX is a former senior editor at Business 2.0, the award-winning business magazine, and a leading authority on business strategy. Previously, Fox was finance editor of Upside magazine. He also spent five and one-half years as editor and reporter for Dow Jones News Service, where he covered the energy industry and Enron. His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Barron s, Salon.com, and other media.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Enrom
The Rise and Fall

"A sober and clear-eyed book . . . Fox places the unspooling of Enron in its market-history context, and his book has gravitas."
Barron s

"Offers the most detailed explanation of Enron as a business."
The New York Times

"A solid, intelligent, and fair account of the hubris that made Enron famous and important, then crazy and crooked."
Martin Mayer, author of The Fed and The Bankers

"[Fox s] candid, in-depth examination of Enron s remarkable evolution, corporate culture, and ultimate downfall is in itself remarkable for being both scrupulously detailed while remaining a clear and enjoyable read."
ERisk.com

The word "Enron" has officially entered the American vocabulary not as the symbol of excellence and innovation that Chairman Kenneth Lay envisioned but as the corporate embodiment of greed, excess, and unprecedented fraud. Never in history has one company plummeted so quickly from the heights of power and glory to the depths of public humiliation, bankruptcy, and criminal investigation, dragging so many individuals and firms down with it. Simultaneously fascinating and frightening, Enron: The Rise and Fall provides today s most illuminating and entertaining look on what was right and wrong with late twentieth-century corporate America.

"A sober and clear-eyed book . . . Fox places the unspooling of Enron in its market-history context, and his book has gravitas."
–Barron’s

"Offers the most detailed explanation of Enron as a business."
–The New York Times

"A solid, intelligent, and fair account of the hubris that made Enron famous and important, then crazy and crooked."
–Martin Mayer, author of The Fed and The Bankers

"[Fox’s] candid, in-depth examination of Enron’s remarkable evolution, corporate culture, and ultimate downfall is in itself remarkable for being both scrupulously detailed while remaining a clear and enjoyable read."
–ERisk.com

The word "Enron" has officially entered the American vocabulary–not as the symbol of excellence and innovation that Chairman Kenneth Lay envisioned but as the corporate embodiment of greed, excess, and unprecedented fraud. Never in history has one company plummeted so quickly from the heights of power and glory to the depths of public humiliation, bankruptcy, and criminal investigation, dragging so many individuals and firms down with it. Simultaneously fascinating and frightening, Enron: The Rise and Fall provides today’s most illuminating and entertaining look on what was right–and wrong–with late twentieth-century corporate America.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471478881
• ISBN 13: 9780471478881
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400