Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
The podcast chronicles the rise and fall of Enron, the Houston energy company that became a symbol of corporate fraud. It covers executives Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, and Andy Fastow, along with mark-to-market accounting, special-purpose entities, and the California electricity crisis. It details Sherron Watkins's 2001 warning memo, the stock's collapse from $90 to eighty cents, Arthur Andersen's document shredding, and the December 2, 2001 bankruptcy. It also examines the impact on 29,000 employees and the subsequent trials, including Skilling's twelve-year sentence. New episodes are released daily.
Episodes
The Foundation Was Never Real: Enron's Rise and the First Fictions
(00:00:00) The Foundation Was Never Real: Enron's Rise and the First Fictions
(00:00:51) Ken Lay and the Pipeline Man
(00:01:48) Deregulation and the Shift to Trading
(00:03:03) Mark-to-Market and the First Fiction
(00:04:31) Andy Fastow and the Architecture of Concealment
(00:07:05) California and the Trading Desk
(00:08:22) Sherron Watkins and the Warning That Wasn't Heard
(00:09:26) The Three-W
Mark-to-Market, the SPEs, and the Architecture of Enron's Fraud
(00:00:00) Mark-to-Market, the SPEs, and the Architecture of Enron's Fraud
(00:01:05) The Architecture of Deception
(00:02:34) The SPE Machine
(00:05:01) The Raptors
(00:06:10) California Burns
(00:07:39) The Warning That Went Nowhere
(00:08:39) The Fourteen-Week Collapse
(00:10:15) Accountability
(00:11:22) What the Numbers Hid
By the late 1990s, Enron was the seventh-largest company in America,
The House of Cards: Fastow, the Raptors, and California's Crisis
(00:00:00) The House of Cards: Fastow, the Raptors, and California's Crisis
(00:00:40) The Architecture of the Illusion
(00:02:18) Andy Fastow and the Hidden Architecture
(00:04:16) The Raptors
(00:05:27) Gaming California's Power Grid
(00:07:04) Sherron Watkins and the Warning Ignored
(00:08:22) The Three-Week Collapse
(00:10:18) The Trial and the Reckoning
(00:11:48) What It Actually Tells Us
F
The Warning Nobody Heard: Watkins, the Raptors, and the Point of No Return
(00:00:00) The Warning Nobody Heard: Watkins, the Raptors, and the Point of No Return
(00:01:07) The Idea of Enron
(00:03:00) The Architect
(00:04:51) The Raptors
(00:06:12) Fastow's Private Profit
(00:07:32) Gaming California
(00:09:05) The Unraveling
(00:10:22) The Shredder and the Reckoning
(00:11:50) What the Shadow Built
In August 2001, Enron vice president Sherron Watkins put it in writing:
Circular Guarantees: How the Raptors Were Designed to Fail
(00:00:00) Circular Guarantees: How the Raptors Were Designed to Fail
(00:00:51) What Mark-to-Market Actually Did
(00:01:56) Andy Fastow and the Architecture of Self-Interest
(00:03:23) The Raptors: Built to Absorb Losses
(00:04:59) Chewco and the Loophole Under the Loophole
(00:06:32) Sherron Watkins Sees the Clock
(00:07:50) California and the Traders Who Knew Exactly What They Were Doing
(00:09
December 2, 2001: The Day the Largest Bankruptcy in History Hit
(00:00:00) December 2, 2001: The Day the Largest Bankruptcy in History Hit
(00:00:48) The Architecture of Ambition
(00:02:31) The Special Purpose Machine
(00:04:49) The Warning That Went Nowhere
(00:06:17) California and the Cost of Manipulation
(00:07:57) The Three-Week Collapse
(00:09:47) Twenty-Nine Thousand
(00:10:35) The Reckoning
(00:11:44) The Lesson That Keeps Repeating
On December 2, 200
Collapse by Design: The Full Architecture of Enron's Fraud
(00:00:00) Collapse by Design: The Full Architecture of Enron's Fraud
(00:00:54) The Innovation That Wasn't
(00:02:31) The SPE Machine
(00:04:19) Death Star over California
(00:06:05) The Warning
(00:07:22) The Three-Week Fall
(00:08:44) Twenty-Nine Thousand
(00:09:53) The Reckoning
(00:10:56) What the Name Tells You
Before December 2, 2001, Enron was treated as a model of American corporate geni
When the Warning Came Too Late: Watkins, Fastow, and the Point of Collapse
(00:00:00) When the Warning Came Too Late: Watkins, Fastow, and the Point of Collapse
(00:01:10) How Enron Became Untouchable
(00:03:09) The Architecture of Concealment
(00:05:27) California Burns
(00:06:57) October Sixteen
(00:08:51) The Collapse
(00:10:08) Accountability
(00:12:08) What It Left Behind
In August 2001, Enron vice president Sherron Watkins handed chairman Ken Lay a memo that said
From $90 to Eighty Cents: The Full Unraveling of Enron
(00:00:00) From $90 to Eighty Cents: The Full Unraveling of Enron
(00:01:02) The Machine Behind the Numbers
(00:02:48) Five Hundred Shells
(00:04:46) The Raptors and the Receivable
(00:06:27) California in the Dark
(00:07:55) Watkins Puts It in Writing
(00:09:01) The Three-Week Collapse
(00:10:33) Accountability and What Followed
(00:12:21) The Record That Remains
On October 16, 2001, analysts di
The Weight of What Was Lost: Enron's Full Reckoning
(00:00:00) The Weight of What Was Lost: Enron's Full Reckoning
(00:00:45) The Company That Could Do No Wrong
(00:01:37) The Method That Made It Possible
(00:02:37) The Architecture of Concealment
(00:03:50) The Raptors
(00:04:47) The Warning That Wasn't Heard
(00:06:01) Gaming California's Lights
(00:07:13) The Beginning of the End
(00:08:32) The Final Weeks
(00:09:36) The Reckoning
(00:10:49) Wha
The Company That Fooled Everyone: Mark-to-Market, SPEs, and the Hidden Architecture
(00:00:00) The Company That Fooled Everyone: Mark-to-Market, SPEs, and the Hidden Architecture
(00:01:08) How Mark-to-Market Became a Weapon
(00:02:39) The Architecture of Hidden Debt
(00:04:32) Fastow's Conflict and the Chewco Problem
(00:05:59) California and the Trading Floor
(00:07:22) The Warning That Went Nowhere
(00:08:11) Forty-Seven Days
(00:10:03) What Was Left Behind
(00:11:39) The Clos
Raptors, Ricochet, and the Machinery Behind the Myth
(00:00:00) Raptors, Ricochet, and the Machinery Behind the Myth
(00:01:01) How the Numbers Were Made Up
(00:02:20) The Machinery of Concealment
(00:04:09) The Raptors
(00:05:12) California in the Dark
(00:06:41) The Warning That Went Nowhere
(00:07:35) Seven Weeks in Autumn
(00:08:56) The Human Cost
(00:09:59) The Reckoning
(00:11:22) What the Story Actually Is
Before Enron collapsed, it was cele
The Question Nobody Asked: How Enron Fooled Everyone
(00:00:00) The Question Nobody Asked: How Enron Fooled Everyone
(00:00:39) The Making of a Myth
(00:01:48) The Numbers That Weren't Real
(00:02:51) The Architecture of Concealment
(00:04:32) The Warning That Changed Nothing
(00:05:51) Gaming the Grid
(00:07:14) The Three-Week Collapse
(00:09:06) Twenty-Nine Thousand
(00:09:59) The Reckoning
(00:11:09) What the Collapse Reveals
How do you fool eve
December 2, 2001: The Day the Lie Finally Ran Out of Road
(00:00:00) December 2, 2001: The Day the Lie Finally Ran Out of Road
(00:01:09) The Company That Sold Genius
(00:02:05) How the Numbers Were Cooked
(00:03:15) The Architecture of Concealment
(00:05:17) The Warning That Went Nowhere
(00:06:00) California in the Dark
(00:07:14) The Three-Week Collapse
(00:08:32) The Reckoning
(00:09:52) What the Story Leaves Behind
December 2, 2001 is the date stam
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