In line with my annual financial independence goals for this year I pressed on with the reading list. “the smartest Guys in the room” is about rise and fall of Wall street darling an American corporation called “Enron”, which took down auditing company “Arthur Andersen”.
At its peak Enron shares were worth $90.75 and on December 2, 2001 (when it filled for bankruptcy) were trading at $0.26 . The company was chasing dream of deregulation through the vast network of political donations (former Secretary of State Heinz Alfred Kissinger (naturalized USA citizen as of 1943, son to German Jews) served as advisor, along with James Baker and many others).
Here is some interesting quotations from the book: “…When people describe Skilling they don’t just use the word “smart”; they use phrases like “incandescently brilliant” or “the smartest person I ever met”…He could instantly simplify highly complex issues into a sparkling, compelling image.
…Skilling also had tendency to oversimplify, and he largely disregarded – indeed, he had an active distaste for – messy details involved in executing a plan. What thrilled Skilling, always, was the intellectually purity of an idea, not the translation of that idea into reality.