Reflection Paper on Enron

Ungson, Monica Rose A.

ACETHIC K31

REFLECTION PAPER ON ‘ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM’

‘Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room’ is a documentary film released in 2005 which gives a closer look on the rise and fall of one of the greatest corporate scandals of the world. The film tells the story of the fall of Enron Corporation in 2001. Enron Corporation was based in Houston, Texas. It was a corporation which catered to America’s needs in the field of energy, commodities, and other services. This scandal opened cases against the corporation’s top executives, and revealed other scandals which the corporation had become a part of. This includes the involvement of some Enron traders in California’s electricity crisis.

Kenneth Lay, was featured in this documentary, how he began so humbly to becoming not only a successful businessman but to eventually becoming the chairman of Enron. During this time, the CFO of the company was Andrew Fastow, he was one of the biggest contributors to the cover up of Enron’s losses. Andrew Fastow was convicted as guilty and served his time in prison for 6 years. He was put in a position of power but he took advantage of this, like the other executives, he put himself first. He was a fraudulent man who seeks to gain more power, not caring about anyone he stepped on, as long as he achieved his goal. It even came to a point where LJM (Lea, Jeffrey, Matthew) was created. This was a company created by Andrew Fastow which he used to buy poor performing stocks of Enron. The manipulation had come this far, where they created dummy companies which they used for their dirty transactions. There was one company names “M Yass” which actually meant “My Ass.” Making this company with such a name showed how they took things so lightly; as if it was all just a joke for them.

At that time, the chief executive, Louis Borget, had been stealing money from their corporation and transferring it to different private accounts. This was encouraged by...