Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room  question?
831503
It is hard for me to understand your question, but here goes.\n\nIn real simple terms, what happened at Enron was:\n\nEnron would by a unit of energy for say $95, and then sell that same unit of energy for $100. That would make for a profit of $5 on that single transaction. \n\nWhat they did (wrong) was to record the $100 as profit instead of the real profit of $5. This kept going on and on until some people started noticing things. Wall Street analysts were able to reason that Enron could not be making as much profit as they were showing on the books, so one by one the Wall Street analysts downgraded Enron stock. \n\nThese numerous downgrades caused investors to sell Enron stock, which caused the price of the stock to go lower, which in turn caused a depletion of capital for Enron. In order to get more money to finance their scheme, Enron turned to the banks to lend them money. This cycle kept repeating itself. After a while  the banks refused to lend more money to Enron, because they figured that Enron was over extended on their credit. After all of this Enron had no more money, and had to declare bankruptcy.\n\nEnron was in effect borrowing all their money from shareholders and banks. When those sources of money dried up, bankruptcy was the only option.
473655
I never counted. There are some that are only smarter in a book-smart way with no common sense, and some that seem to have more common sense than me. The smartest people I know have both.
450989
"celver" or CLEVER???\n I think anybody on earth have the ability to be Clever as long as they open their mind to new things that are happening everyday. \n I also think there are more American inventors than English investors, but then who cares? We all learn from each of them!
580633
YES! He stole the first with the help of Jebber in Florida and with Enron's finances. Do some research on the latter. It is the truth.\n\nThe second he stole as well. Two words: Ohio. Florida.
77618
i think its their consideration of minimizing cost and balance the profit and they have vision in the future that bigger is not the solution but smarter wil bring victory !!\ni think tis is the start of revolution in the world of knowledge !
548205
The smartest person I met was my old boss Roy Wilson. He was a biochemist and ex-Naval Commander. He taught me alot about runnning business and he did it with such ease and grace. I worked under him for over 15 years until he passed away. I have never met anyone like him again. (Rest in peace Roy..I still love you) He was the Father I wished I had had...
737101
well the things we teach our kids these days are. if you dont like it. sue them. we teach them how NOT to be reponsible for our own selves. but what we are is always someone elses fault. we teach them there are no consequences to our actions. with money you can buy your way out of any situation. and the parents that all this applies to. will never see themselves in this . so on we go on our downward spiral to teaching our kids how to be nothing. .. and these are the people who wil some day be our leaders. nice huh?? well of course our leaders arent much. Clinton was one perfect example.. CEOs of major companies set fine examples by not being honest. and driving the companies down the tubes. Enron comes to mind. its all about lack of integrity. to do what is right no matter if someone is watching or not.
1067103
"What lessons can we learn from successful entrepreneurs?" \n\nIf that really was Donald Trump's question, it's funny that the question seems so conceited. Like, he thinks we should use him as an example or something.
818642
There aren't any ties any more because Enron no longer exists (it sold its last assets in September).  When it did exist, it had several significant connections to the Republican Party:\n\n1)  In the late 1980s, they worked on some joint ventures with George W. Bush's company, Spectrum 7, which led to some close personal relationships between Bush and some key leaders at Enron.\n2)  Kenneth Lay, Enron's CEO, was an undersecretary in the Department of Interior in the Nixon administration.\n3)  Lay was a major contributor to the Presidential campaign of George W. Bush, and was considered for the position of Treasury Secretary.\n4)  Enron donated approximately $6M to Republican candidates between 1990 and its demise.
780118
To the absent minded that don't know how to read between lines the word squeme can be interpreted as scheme. Excuse the lack of serotonin on their brains. Many of those guys will never make it to the first question on the DEAL no DEAL game. I don't think ENRON is a dead topic not when there are still families trying to get punitive damages on their pension funds plus the ones that have to carry around the stigma of being an Enron former employee. THE QUESTION OF KENETH LAY BEING ALIVE STILL IS A VERY VALID ONE. Is as actual as possible Iranian intervention. In america we are easily distracted from the real issues. Something new and more grotesque will take the place of the "older grotesque" Now we have the new BORAT another racial profiling TOm Greene style movie that is the number one. 'funiest movie". Maybe that distract the republicans from their loss in the recent elections.
1060921
Smart man and a Good leader.
654633
I hope so they deserve it. I good movie you should watch is "Enron, The Smartest Guys In The Room". Its great. It shows how Enron Rise and Fell and it tells what Skilling and Lay and others did to keep it all under wraps.
1040355
er, smart?\n\n\n\nbwhahahaha!
671309
Enron management thought it was an art. They were right to some extent but be careful. There is no clear answer to this good question except that it is both.
930574
Yes.  Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling put Enron out of business.  Their behavior not only affected Enron's employees but brought about even more scrutiny of large corporations by the SEC.\n\nMartha Stewart's conviction and jail term sent stock in her company way down, but due to her well-timed release and her activities since, the company has made even more money.
57912
Me?\n\nI don't think you can quantify such a thing. I am a scientist and work with many of the world's top minds in their specialized field. Could they manage to go grocery shopping on their own? No way, yet they can clone a cat. Go figure.\n\nA great author or poet is smart in one way, while a brilliant mathematician is smart in another.  \n\nI guess you want an all around Jack of All trades smart guy. Well Ken Jennings from Jeopardy has a lot of trivia knowledge and knows amny subjects, but no one would call him the smartest person on the planet.  Einstein was a great physicist yet he was a lousy artist.\n\nI think  you can be the best at somthing, but not the best at everything.
807190
From what I was hearing on talk radio (right wing) last night, Kerry's mouth was the October surprise and will keep the republicans in their congressional seats.\nBasically he was campaigning for the Republicans with that stupid remark............................\nPart of that comment included something about studying and "getting smart".  Huh!!!!!!!?????????????\nYou do not GET SMART...you either............ARE SMART or you are not smart.\nEducation makes you educated........not SMART.\nHow did he ever get in the senate????