Conspiracy of Fools
A True Story
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Narrated by:
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Robertson Dean
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By:
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Kurt Eichenwald
About this listen
From an award-winning New York Times reporter comes the full, mind-boggling true story of the lies, crimes, and ineptitude behind the Enron scandal that imperiled a presidency, destroyed a marketplace, and changed Washington and Wall Street forever.
It was the corporate collapse that appeared to come out of nowhere. In late 2001, the Enron Corporation - a darling of the financial world, a company whose executives were friends of presidents and the powerful - imploded virtually overnight, leaving vast wreckage in its wake and sparking a criminal investigation that would last for years.
Kurt Eichenwald transforms the unbelievable story of the Enron scandal into a rip-roaring narrative of epic proportions, taking readers behind every closed door - from the Oval Office to the executive suites, from the highest reaches of the Justice Department to the homes and bedrooms of the top officers. It is a tale of global reach - from Houston to Washington, from Bombay to London, from Munich to Sao Paolo - laying out the unbelievable scenes that twisted together to create this shocking true story.
Eichenwald reveals never-disclosed details of a story that features a cast including George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul O’Neill, Harvey Pitt, Colin Powell, Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alan Greenspan, Ken Lay, Andy Fastow, Jeff Skilling, Bill Clinton, Rupert Murdoch and Sumner Redstone. With its you-are-there glimpse into the secretive worlds of corporate power, Conspiracy of Fools is an all-true financial and political thriller of cinematic proportions.
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Critic reviews
- 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Nonfiction (Unabridged)
"As an unadorned attempt to get into the heads of some major manipulators, this book can hardly be bettered." (Publishers Weekly)
“The thriller of the year - and it’s all true!” (Dallas Morning News)
“Ranks with A Civil Action as one of the best nonfiction books of the last decade.” (New York Times Book Review)
"Conspiracy of Fools is a splendid achievement. Mr. Eichenwald has an encyclopedic grasp of a watershed business collapse, and has turned it into a gripping read, a true tale for our times." (The New York Times)
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- An Insider's Account of the Obama Administration's Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry
- By: Steven Rattner
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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This first real look inside Team Obama mixes political warfare and big-business shakeups in equal proportions, and comes from a uniquely informed source. Steve Rattner is not just the man brought in by the president to save the auto industry, he is a former New York Times financial reporter who also earned a place among the top tier of Wall Street's most informed investment bankers and corporate experts.
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Overhaul - A Memoir
- By Roy on 12-05-10
By: Steven Rattner
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The Bank That Lived a Little
- Barclays in the Age of the Very Free Market
- By: Philip Augar
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on unparalleled access to those involved, and told with compelling pace and drama, The Bank That Lived a Little is the story of one of the most familiar names on the British high street since Big Bang in 1986. Philip Augar describes in detail three decades of boardroom intrigue driven by ruthless ambition, grandiose dreams and a desire for wealth. It is a tale of a struggle for long-term supremacy between rival strategies and their adherents.
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Global superstar bankers under light-touch gov
- By Philo on 12-21-18
By: Philip Augar
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Red Notice
- A True Story of High Finance, Murder and One Man's Fight for Justice
- By: Bill Browder
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Red Notice is a searing expose of the wholesale whitewash by Russian authorities of Magnitsky's imprisonment and murder, slicing deep into the shadowy heart of the Kremlin to uncover its sordid truths.
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This is an absolute "YES" as your next read/listen
- By William on 02-07-15
By: Bill Browder
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The Greatest Trade Ever
- The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History
- By: Gregory Zuckerman
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2006, hedge fund manager John Paulson realized something few others suspected - that the housing market and the value of subprime mortgages were grossly inflated and headed for a major fall. Paulson's background was in mergers and acquisitions, however, and he knew little about real estate or how to wager against housing. He had spent a career as an also-ran on Wall Street. But Paulson was convinced this was his chance to make his mark. He just wasn't sure how to do it. Colleagues at investment banks scoffed at him and investors dismissed him.
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Better Books Now Available
- By David on 05-02-11
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Confidence Men
- Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President
- By: Ron Suskind
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 22 hrs
- Unabridged
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The hidden history of Wall Street and the White House comes down to a single American concept: confidence. Both centers of power, New York and Washington, learned how to manufacture it - until August 2007, when that confidence began to crumble. Ron Suskind here tells the story of what happened next, as Wall Street struggled to save itself while a man with little experience and soaring rhetoric emerged from obscurity to usher in "a new era of responsibility".
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Insightful, but...
- By Ray on 10-29-11
By: Ron Suskind
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A First-Class Catastrophe
- The Road to Black Monday, the Worst Day in Wall Street History
- By: Diana B. Henriques
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Monday, October 19, 1987, was by far the worst day in Wall Street history. The market fell 22.6% - almost twice as bad as the worst day of 1929 - equal to a one-day loss of nearly 5,000 points today. Black Monday was more than seven years in the making and threatened nearly every US financial institution. Drawing on superlative archival research and dozens of original interviews, Diana B. Henriques weaves a tale of missed opportunities, market delusions, and destructive actions.
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Financial History Rhymes
- By David Larson on 10-07-17
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The Money Culture
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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The 1980s was the most outrageous and turbulent era in the financial market since the crash of ’29, not only on Wall Street but around the world. Michael Lewis, as a trainee at Salomon Brothers in New York and as an investment banker and later financial journalist, was uniquely positioned to chronicle the ambition and folly that fueled the decade. In these trenchant, often hilarious true tales we meet the colorful movers and shakers who commanded the headlines and rewrote the rules.
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Not the normal great Michael Lewis
- By Me on 05-12-12
By: Michael Lewis
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Exposure
- Inside the Olympus Scandal: How I Went from CEO to Whistleblower
- By: Michael Woodford
- Narrated by: Michael Woodford
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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When Michael Woodford was made president of Olympus - the company to which he had dedicated thirty years of his career - he became the first Westerner ever to climb the ranks of one of Japan’s corporate giants. Some wondered at the appointment - how could a gaijin who didn’t even speak Japanese understand how to run a Japanese company? But within months Woodford had gained the confidence of most of his colleagues and shareholders.
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Starts off great, then gets stupid
- By Happy Mountain on 10-21-21
By: Michael Woodford
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The Zeroes
- My Misadventures in the Decade Wall Street Went Insane
- By: Randall Lane
- Narrated by: Randall Lane
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Magazine entrepreneur Randall Lane had a prime seat at Wall Street's biggest greed fest. The Zeroes is a memoir about the excesses and bad behavior of an outsider who got pulled into a crazy, self-contained world.
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A very entertaining tale
- By andy on 11-03-13
By: Randall Lane
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Boss Life
- Surviving My Own Small Business
- By: Paul Downs
- Narrated by: Jonathan Hogan
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1986, fresh out of college, Paul Downs opened his first and last business: a small company that built custom furniture. With no idea how to run a business or how to build custom furniture, Downs spent a year teaching himself the business, and in 1987 he hired his first employee. That was when things got complicated.
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Just a story
- By Marsha on 12-31-15
By: Paul Downs
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The Wizard of Lies
- Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust
- By: Diana B. Henriques
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 16 hrs
- Unabridged
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Who is Bernie Madoff, and how did he pull off the biggest Ponzi scheme in history? These questions have fascinated people ever since the news broke about the respected New York financier who swindled his friends, relatives, and other investors out of $65 billion. Many have speculated about what must have happened, but no reporter has been able to get the full story - until now. Diana B. Henriques of the New York Times has written the definitive book on the man and his scheme.
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The best of 3 madoff books
- By Angela willis on 03-18-13
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DisneyWar
- By: James B. Stewart
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 25 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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DisneyWar is an enthralling tale of one of America's most powerful media and entertainment companies, the people who control it, and those trying to overthrow them. It tells a story that - in its sudden twists, vivid, larger-than-life characters, and thrilling climax - might itself have been the subject of a Disney classic - except that it's all true.
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Really interesting story... No ending.
- By rotinaj on 12-18-17
By: James B. Stewart
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Does anyone "proofread" the audio book?
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in great detail
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The Key Man
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Arif Naqvi was charismatic, inspiring, and self-made—all the qualities of a successful business leader. The founder of Abraaj, a Dubai-based private-equity firm, Naqvi was the Key Man to the global elite searching for impact investments to make money and do good. In 2018, Simon Clark and Will Louch were contacted by an anonymous whistleblower who said Naqvi had swindled investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars and offered bribes to sustain his billionaire lifestyle. In April 2019—months after their exposé broke—Naqvi was arrested on charges of fraud and racketeering.
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A great take on one of the greatest swindleds
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Greed and Glory on Wall Street
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The inside account of a financial meltdown that reshaped Wall Street. In 1983, Lew Glucksman, then co-CEO of the heralded investment bank Lehman Brothers, demanded the resignation of chairman Pete Peterson, with whom he had long argued over how to manage the company. Shockingly, Peterson, who had taken charge a decade earlier and led Lehman from near collapse to record profits, agreed to step down.
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An important fork in the road for Lehman
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What listeners say about Conspiracy of Fools
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Timothy
- 03-27-07
A wonderful insight
Who knew that a 30 hour book on the collapse of a company could be so interesting? It is very interesting to hear from the inside how events progressed - and the magnitude of the incompetence of key players in the story.
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- John
- 05-21-23
I boarded the Titanic as it was hitting the iceberg
I joined Enron in September 2001 and had a relatively unbiased view of the implosion. Most employees liked Ken Lay all the way until the end. Never heard anything good about Fastow even before everything was exposed. His reputation was that he was an arrogant @$$. Was Watkins more of a whistleblower than others at the company or just jealous that she didn’t get offered the lucrative partnership deals? Enron had smart people and good ideas. Their trading business was really good. Less than a dozen people brought the company down. And Andy Fastow was ordained CFO of the year by CFO Magazine? What a joke!
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- Ray R.
- 06-15-20
Fascinating but tedious
It's a great book very well researched. But, and this is no fault of the author, The story of corruption begins early in the book and continues on and on until finally all the Domino's fall Down. It is somewhat tedious and exhausting. For the casual reader not schooled in high level finance much of the deals and special purpose entities that bring down Enron are far too complex to understand without boxes and charts. Which is no surprise because the experts who worked at Enron needed those exact boxes and charts and still were misled.
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Overall
- William
- 09-21-06
Excellent!
I have to say, beyond learning corporate and financial terms I didn't know before, this book is amazing. It is a very well written narrative, I only got lost once or twice, and that was mostly do to the 36hour length than anything.
This book sure opened my eyes to what actually went on at Enron, from start to finish, it's amazing. I would drive around the city aimlessly just so I could listen! You would hear one absurdity that passed for logic at Enron and would think that surely, this would be the final nail in the coffin, then you realized you were only two hours in. it's that good.
The narration is the only reason this book didn't receive a five star. I found the character voices indistinguishable at times, and the character personalities seemed to be reduced to, whiny, angry, pensive and passive. There wasn't a lot of differentiation or vocal personality. Other than that, it was well paced, clearly read and a joy to listen too.
The first hour sets things up, it may seem a little slow, but it is definitely worth it. A real must read for any business owner. It should be subtitled, how not to ruin an company.
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- R. Shi
- 03-29-19
Journalism in its finest form
The author did his homework for the story. The details and characters described in the book are vivid and believable. The narrator is superb too.
All in all a five stars audiobook! Worth listening again when I find time.
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- DATB
- 09-11-15
Great Book!
It was like listening to a fast pace novel. 30hrs of my life went by too fast!
The Enron scandal presented in a way that anyone could understand. Who would have thought that could happen!
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- Christi
- 03-05-15
Starts slow but give it a chance
I almost gave up on this and I am glad I didn't. What the author did was incredible. Great story and great orator. I saw a doc on Enron and thought that might make this repetitive but no. I can't imagine any other book or doc coming close to this content.
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- Eloise Montgomery
- 07-24-07
gripping
Very complex but clearly explained--engrossing and impressive--better than fiction--and I cannot imagine how it could be abridged--go for the full version--it's worth every minute--my husband is going to LOVE this one. Road trip.
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- Daniel J. Meyers
- 02-23-07
Perfect
This was a great book. It provided hours of listening enjoyment. It is well worth the cost, it is almost a steal.
I will listen to this one again and again.
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- A. Smith
- 03-19-18
Excellent & Better than I remember
I own this book; sometimes I look thru my Library for something to listen to. As a CPA, the story of Enron has always intrigued me. I know it only takes two sneaky Client employees to perpetuate a fraud. But this? This was much more than ‘two bad apples’.
Mr. Eichenwald did an amazing job researching and explaining (in layman’s terms) the deals. Back when this happened, I thought the Company used derivatives to ‘trick’ AA. No, it was really a simple shell game, just like you see at a baseball game (you know, the Monkee, between innings?) Of course, Skilling is so intimidating, he scared many of the accountants by implying “You’re so stupid, I can’t believe you can’t understand how our Company works.” It did the trick, the accountants went away, and probably stayed away.
The Reader is excellent, and uses many voices. Lay comes off as calm & blind, which he was.
I definitely recommend this book.
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