Introducing: Bad Bets

Bad Bets

The Wall Street Journal

News, Business, True Crime

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 1 October 2021

⏱️ 3 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Introducing Bad Bets, a new podcast series from The Wall Street Journal that unravels big-business dramas that have had a big impact on our world. We begin with the Enron saga. In the 1990s, the U.S. energy company was a darling of Wall Street. But after the Journal uncovered monumental corporate fraud at Enron, the company quickly descended into bankruptcy, compromising tens of billions of dollars and thousands of jobs. Now, on the 20th anniversary of Enron's collapse, this story is as relevant as ever. This season on 'Bad Bets', Journal reporters John Emshwiller and Rebecca Smith talk to key players who witnessed Enron's downfall from the inside, including a whistleblower who speaks on the record for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Brought to you by SuperMicro, your AI and Green Computing partner.
0:07.0	Twenty years ago, Energy Giant Enron was considered one of the most innovative companies in the world.
0:12.0	Enron was the flashiest, brashiest player.
0:16.0	It was exciting. We were changing the world. There was so much energy.
0:20.0	There were like 25 Ferraris, Maserades and Bentley's lined up on bonus baby row.
0:28.0	And I thought, who works here? This is crazy.
0:31.0	But in late summer 2001, the company's top executive resigned out of the blue.
0:36.0	That set my colleague Rebecca Smith and me on a reporting journey with an end we never imagined.
0:43.0	Within months, Enron plummeted from celebrated corporate Titan.
0:48.0	Many of you concerned about the value of your stock options.
0:53.0	I'm concerned about the value of my stock options.
0:56.0	Into bankruptcy and scandal. Stock in the once mighty Enron corporation now heading into chapter 11 closed today at 40 cents a share.
1:08.0	This is Bad Betts, a new series from the Wall Street Journal that unravels big business dramas that have had a big impact on our world.
1:15.0	This season, we're bringing you the Enron saga.
1:18.0	Talking to people who had a front row seat to the company's glory days.
1:22.0	Oh my gosh, skilling was on his game. He was the idea guy and he was firing on all cylinders.
1:29.0	And here can those who were on the hot seat when everything fell apart.
1:33.0	As I went down to the meeting room, I got nauseous and thought I was going to throw up.
1:39.0	As Rebecca and I dug deeper, we found out that Enron's rise was more a story of success than the real thing.
1:46.0	The company became synonymous with epic corporate fraud.
1:50.0	Enron's collapse stunned those who were invested in the story.
1:53.0	We thought everything was going great and all of a sudden out of nowhere we find out that we're going broke.
	...

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