helen

“Some of the commodities Enron started trading were part of the energy world. In 1997, Enron began trading coal. There was a fair amount of internal opposition to the idea: it cut against Enron’s image as an environmentally friendly natural-gas company. A meeting was held in Skilling’s office to discuss coal. Some 15 people were gathered, ready to debate, when Skilling weighed in. “Coal? I like coal,” he said. And so it was done.”
― Bethany McLean, The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron

“As Enron’s troubles continued to gather, like the ghosts of quarters past, Lay seemed almost paralyzed. “He was curled up in the fetal position the whole time,” says an Enron executive in the thick of it all. Lay continued to believe that Enron would survive this crisis, just as it had survived those in the past. He also continued to believe it was still primarily a public-relations problem.”
― Bethany McLean, The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron