[Below is Part II of a series on The United States of Enron; you can read Part I *here*]
Is The United States of Enron Overpriced?
In March 2001, Bethany McLean published a controversial article in Fortune Magazine raising the serious question that few people were willing to ask publicly: is Enron overpriced? At the time, Enron was still the darling of Wall Street, and McLean’s article was initially met with skepticism and even hostility; but her essay demanded an accounting that the company's executives were ultimately unable to provide: where was Enron's money coming from?
McLean turned out to be correct. Enron was overpriced, and their “earnings” came from massive criminal fraud. Fortune is now understandably proud to have published McLean's prescient and groundbreaking piece.
I doubt the editors of Fortune are as proud of previous stories they ran about Enron, in which they celebrated the genius and foresight of its lead…
