Capítulo 3 de 3 · 2'17"
An analyst on the April 2001 call asks why Enron cannot "produce a balance sheet or a cash flow statement with their earnings." The reply offers thanks, then snaps in public. Under that split, Enron is still called a super-star company, while someone who saw the numbers feels it crumbling away and says they are in a massive hole.
Skilling's Analyst Call Meltdown
He Knew They Were in a Hole
In April 2001, Skilling takes questions on a conference call with analysts. Midway through, someone asks why Enron, in effect a financial institution, cannot produce a balance sheet or cash flow statement with its earnings. The reply thanks the question, then a slur is clearly heard. Wall Street treats it as a Fortune 500 CEO losing it. Traders cheer and make a sign playing off "Ask Why."
The April 2001 call turns on one public question: why Enron cannot "produce a balance sheet or a cash flow statement with their earnings," as most financial institutions do. The reply does not answer. "Well, thank you very much. We appreciate it" holds the polite line, and the insult on the tape is what Wall Street hears: a Fortune 500 CEO "losing it" at an investor. A note goes up telling him to apologize. He tucks it under the papers. Traders who cheered make a sign playing off "Ask Why." What sits under the scene is stated earlier: two thoughts at once, Enron as "a super-star company" and the feeling it was "all crumbling away." Someone who saw the numbers calls it "the only time that I saw him truly, truly worried about keeping the stock price up," and reports the line "I don't know what the hell I'm going to do." Later comes the walk-back: "I would not now, have used the term that I used."
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
“You're the only financial institution that can't produce a balance sheet or a cash flow statement with their earnings”
The word only turns a dry accounting question into a finger pointed at one company.
Formal
“Well, thank you very much. We appreciate it, asshole.”
The thanks is still in the air when the insult lands, and that collision is the whole line.
Informal
“I would not now, have used the term that I used.”
He walks back the word without ever managing a clean apology.
Formal
“It was the only time that I saw him truly, truly worried about keeping the stock price up.”
Saying truly twice makes one witness's memory feel heavier than a press statement.
Neutral
“And he just kept saying to me, 'I don't know what the hell I'm going to do.'”
The line is small, but he cannot stop repeating it, so the panic sounds stuck.
Informal
They heard a Fortune 500 CEO losing it and calling an investor an asshole in public. The narration says the reaction was unbelievable consternation all across Wall Street.
A balance sheet or a cash flow statement. He calls Enron the only financial institution that cannot produce them with its earnings, and the narration says most financial institutions do release a balance sheet with the earning statement.
Mark Palmer, Enron's chief PR guy, ran a note up to Skilling telling him to apologize. He tucked the paper under the pile on his desk. A later line says, "I would not now, have used the term that I used." No apology is spoken on the call.
They erupted in cheers when Skilling called the man an asshole. Afterwards they made him a sign, a play off Enron's motto "Ask Why," and the sign said "ask why asshole."
Someone says Jeff looked at the numbers and knew they were in a massive hole. It was the only time that speaker saw him truly worried about keeping the stock price up. He kept saying, "I don't know what the hell I'm going to do."
