Enron, Ep 8: Vigilance and Skepticism

Bad Bets

The Wall Street Journal

News, Business, True Crime

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 November 2021

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Enron was a giant, and its collapse was historic. The company's downfall disrupted energy markets, pushing other power companies into bankruptcy. It prompted hearings by nearly a dozen congressional committees, and it inspired major legislation-the Sarbanes-Oxley Act-to improve the conduct of corporations and their watchdogs. But were the changes enough to prevent a similar scandal? Could there be another Enron debacle looming? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Bad Bets, a podcast from the Wall Street Journal that unravels big
0:06.6	business dramas that have had a major impact on our world.
0:10.5	This season, we're looking at the Collapse of Enron.
0:13.6	I'm John M. Schweller.
0:15.0	The 2006 trial of Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay was the climax of the Enron saga.
0:20.6	Skilling in Lay, the faces of Enron, were both found guilty.
0:24.9	Lay died weeks after the trial of a heart attack.
0:27.5	At the end of that year, Skilling began a long prison sentence.
0:31.4	To many in the public, it seemed justice had been served.
0:34.7	But larger questions loomed.
0:36.6	Did the scandal and the hearings and prosecutions make the corporate world a better place?
0:41.7	Or is the system that allowed the excesses of Enron still ripe for fraud?
0:47.4	Stay with us.
0:50.2	With dedicated bankers for healthcare, a wide range of experience across specialties
0:55.3	and product solutions for payment management, key bank is invested in the success of their
1:00.4	clients' businesses.
1:02.0	Learn more at key.com slash healthcare.
1:10.6	The Lay Skilling trial, the culmination of a four-year-long investigation into Enron,
1:15.7	sent a stark message to corporate America that fraud would be punished severely.
1:21.5	But the results of the trial didn't necessarily mean justice had been done.
1:25.7	Here's my colleague, Rebecca Smith.
1:28.0	A lot of Enron employees lost their life savings.
	...

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