GREED IS A GAME. PERIOD.

I will say that it's hard to write something like this in today's era; after all, we all decided the truth about Ken Lay and company long long ago, and that makes it hard to read such a book with any kind of objectivity.
In spite of this, it's clear that McLean's journey--going way back to her Fortune magazine article questioning Enron's mysteriously inflated value to their eventual demise--shows that her initial suspicion was correct. The ugliness grows quickly too, as we see certain individuals comforting investors while at the same time selling off their own stocks--all on the same day, no less. The only thing the book lacked was perhaps a finish line; when we get to the end we hear accounts that this could easily happen again with other corporations, but we're not really shown what we can do as citizens. Maybe that's not the writer's job, but I feel a sense of disgust in the greed and dishonesty of corporate America and by the end of the book I don't know what to do with it.
The question then is evident: how can a culture prevent such selfish acts when a growing economy is everything and integrity is secondary at best?
Until we know that, the problem will only get worse.

A real life story of Hubris, Greed and Deception

The fall of the Enron energy company in 2001 was one of the biggest shocks and scandals in the USA in that year. This is a fascinating book, that should be read by anyone in interested in management, which shows how the company grew from a merger of two natural gas pipeline companies to become one of the largest energy traders in the country.

However, it was all built on shaky foundations. Enron comes across as a horrible place to work. A company where team building had no worth and only the "deal makers" and top management, who were perceived as making money got to share in the wealth the company was apparently generating.

In the end Enron's deceptive accounting was revealed and the true incompetence and thievery of its management ranks were exposed. However, for 15 years the company managed to bluff the business community that "all was fine" and they "were the best" and almost everyone believed them, including people like their auditors at Arthur Anderson, who should have known better. This book is a real eye-opener on all the things you SHOULDN'T do in business and how easily people and organisations can be corrupted by large amounts of money if there are no real controls over the people at the top of the company. This is a true cautionary tale for modern times that is still relevant - especially if you work in a big organisation where things can be so easily hid.

Updated version to include orange jumpsuits for subjects

The Enron scandal rightfully deserves plenty of attention, as the proportion of the scams is truly, truly astounding.

If you ever had 'faith' in corporate America, for whatever reason, this book will open your eyes wider. Very wide in scope, this is nevertheless a pretty complete account of what the heck happened down in Houston when some very ambitious, very intelligent and driven men got together and made billions through the institutionalization of pathological scheming.

Even if you don't have much knowledge of finance and the corporate world, this book is accessible in style and scope, and though it might send you to the Web or to a dictionary on finance to clarify what's what, it's an extremely important book. The impact of this scandal should not be underestimated, nor should anyone sit back and think this kind of thing can't happen again.

This follows Ken Lay from his beginnings, on to the creation of an entity called Enron, on to the entrance of brilliant but arrogant mastermind Jeff Skilling, on to the entrance of professional sleaze/accountant Andrew Fastow, on to the point where it all came crashing down and the house of cards could no longer stand, and then some. Since trials are still pending and the smoke will not be clearing for a while, no doubt an updated version can be expected in a few years.

This book is valuable for anyone who would like some insight into the complex world of finance, the energy business, organizational behavior and management, and frankly, anyone who is American and just might be concerned about massive, unaccountable corporate entities ripping you off while you sleep.

Recently made into a film, the book is full of details, and well put together. Even if you think the players are lowlifes, you might be impressed with the sheer level that the schemes were taken to. The cynicism and greed of businessmen run amok is literally a life-threatening force in the world.