Chapter 1 of 3 · 2'42"
Enron sells itself as a stable company with profits rising every year, and as the firm that built a power plant in India when others were terrified. Under the pitch, profits are headed the other way, India cannot pay for the power, and the site is already a ruin. "Now Dabhol is a ruin."
The Stable Pitch Meets Falling Profits
Bonuses on a Plant Left in Ruins
Viewers hear Enron's sales pitch: newest markets, a taste for risk, and profits said to rise every year. The story then turns to a power plant in India. Dabhol's first phase is generating power and the second is under construction, but India cannot pay for that power. The plant is now a ruin, the project lost a billion dollars, and bonuses still go out on profits that never arrived.
The pitch sells Enron as something new: people at ease with change, markets opening up, and an "Enron on-line" story called fabulous. They were so good at their acting that they convinced corporate America they were smarter than anyone else. The company is still sold as a stable place that can lift profits ten to fifteen percent a year. Hitting those numbers meant questionable things and enormous risk. "We like risk. Because you make money by taking risk." In the India pitch, Dabhol is a great year, phase one generating power and phase two under construction. Someone with experience calls India a place you assiduously stayed away from, and others were terrified of investing there. Enron did it "in a big way," then missed something basic. "India couldn't afford to pay for the power Enron's plant produced." "Now Dabhol is a ruin." A billion dollars is lost, and bonuses rest on "imaginary profits that never arrived."
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
“They were so good at their acting that they convinced corporate America that they were smarter than anyone else.”
The praise is only the shell; calling it acting is what makes the whole business world look sold.
Neutral
“But in reality, profits weren't going up; they were headed in the opposite direction.”
The soaring claim is still warm when this line turns profits to face the other way.
Neutral
“Enron did it, and did it in a big way.”
Doing it is not the whole claim; doing it at that scale is the boast.
Informal
“India couldn't afford to pay for the power Enron's plant produced.”
The upbeat plant update falls into one basic fact: the power could not be paid for.
Neutral
“Enron paid out multi-million dollar bonuses to executives based on imaginary profits that never arrived.”
The money still goes out on profits this same line admits never arrived.
Neutral
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room: your progress
Chapter 1 of 3 · about 5 min to go
Up next · 02both sides of the transactionThe scene: Fastow Admits Both SidesIndia could not afford to pay for the power Enron's plant produced. The next line states the outcome: "Now Dabhol is a ruin." The project lost a billion dollars.
The company was sold as a stable place that could raise profits 10 to 15 percent a year, and by all accounts it was soaring. In reality, profits were not going up; they were headed in the opposite direction. Reaching those numbers meant questionable things and enormous risks.
The narration puts the two facts side by side. The project lost a billion dollars, and Enron still paid multi-million dollar bonuses to executives based on imaginary profits that never arrived.
Because that performance convinced corporate America that Enron was smarter than anyone else. Just before the line, the company is fixated on its stock price and a public-relations campaign, recruits are promised the newest thinking and the newest markets, and "Enron on-line" is called a fabulous story.
