24 Days: How Two Wall Street Journal Reporters Uncovered the Lies that Destroyed Faith in Corporate America (2003-2004)

Title from PDF title page (viewed on Mar. 21, 2007). This Is The Story Of Rebecca Smith And John R. Emshwiller, The Two Reporters Who Led The Wall Street Journal's Reporting On Enron And Uncovered The Unorthodox Partnerships At The Heart Of The Scandal Through Skill, Luck, And Relentless Determination. It All Started In August 2001when Emshwiller Was Assigned To Write A Supposedly Simple Article On The Unexpected Resignation Of Enron Ceo Jeff Skilling. During His Research, Emshwiller Uncovered A Buried Reference To An Off-balance-sheet Partnership Called Ljm. Little Did He Know, This Was The Start Of A Fast And Furious Ride Through The Remarkable Downfall Of A Once Highly-prized Company. Written In An Intense, Fast Paced Narrative Style, 24 Days Tells The Gripping Story Of The Colossal Collapse Of What Would Become The World's Most Notorious Corporation. The Reader Follows Along As Smith And Emshwiller Continue To Uncover New Partnerships And Self-dealing Among The Highest Levels Of Enron's Management. As They Publish Articles Detailing Their Findings In The Journal, Wall Street And Individual Investors Have A Crisis Of Confidence And Start Selling Enron Stock At Unprecedented Levels Of Volume. In The End, 24 Short Days Later, Enron Had Completely Collapsed, Erasing 16 Years Of Growth And Losing $19 Billion In Market Value While Watching The Stock Drop From $33.84 To $8.41. Not Only Was The Company Destroyed, But Investors And Retired Employees Were Completely Wiped Out; All The While, Enron Executives Were Collecting Millions Of Dollars. Climaxing With This 24-day Period, This Book Shows The Reporter's-eye View Of A David-and-goliath Battle Between Journalists And A Giant Corporation. Each Day A New Story Uncovered Another Fact; Each Day The Company Issued Denials. And When The Investigative Stories Reached Critical Mass And Momentum, The Stock Market Cast Its Final Vote Of No Confidence. In The Tradition Of Indecent Exposure And Barbarians At The Gate, Two Other Gripping Narratives That Began As A Series Of Wall Street Journal Stories And Ended Up As Books That Defined An Era, 24 Days Brings The Importance Of Great Investigative Journalism To Life. Part 1 Red Sky Warning. Our Ceo Is Resigning -- Who's Andy Fastow? -- You Won't Believe What Skilling Just Told Me. -- I Have Found That Mr. Lay Doesn't Take Kindly To Criticism. -- It Isn't A Conflict Of Interest. -- You're Just Scratching The Surface. -- You Are About To Topple A $20b House Of Cards. -- I Want To Be Cfo Of The Year. -- It's Okay To Have A Conflict. -- Make The Journal Go Away. -- He Would Have Done Nothing To Harm Enron. -- Amend My Last Statement. Part 2 The 24 Days. I'm Not Sure It Had A Name. -- You Missed Something That Could Be Really Big. -- Looks Like The Sec Read Your Stories. -- There Is An Appearance That You Are Hiding Something. -- I Must Have Heard The Term Death Spiral A Dozen Times Today. -- Oh, I Expect To Be In The Office All Weekend. -- Those Liars! Part 3 The Party's Over. Does Ken Lay Know About This Meeting? -- Don't Approach Their People Again. -- At Least We're Going To Be Part Of The Biggest Bankruptcy Ever! -- Laydoff.com Part 4 Aftershocks And Revelations. There Will Be Something Else Fun And Exciting On The Other Side. -- Enron Has A Problem You May Want To Write About. -- I Really Got Sucked Into This One. -- We Notified Enron's Audit Committee Of Possible Illegal Acts Within The Company. -- Do You Guys Have A Shredder Here? -- I Didn't Look Closely. I Didn't Want To Know Too Much. -- You've Got To Be Kidding Me. -- I Feel I Just Can't Go On. -- There Was A Young Turk Arrogance. -- Next Time Fastow Is Going To Run A Racket, I Want To Be Part Of It. -- Often He Was Just Goofy. Part 5 The Perp Walk. The Arrogance. The Lack Of Accountability. -- Enron's Cfo, Kopper, And Others Devised A Scheme To Defraud Enron And Its Shareholders. -- If It Isn't Criminal, It Ought To Be. Rebecca Smith And John Emshwiller. Includes Index.

This is the story of Rebecca Smith and John R. Emshwiller, the two reporters who led the Wall Street Journal's reporting on Enron and uncovered the unorthodox partnerships at the heart of the scandal through skill, luck, and relentless determination.

It all started in August 2001when Emshwiller was assigned to write a supposedly simple article on the unexpected resignation of Enron CEO Jeff Skilling. During his research, Emshwiller uncovered a buried reference to an off-balance-sheet partnership called LJM. Little did he know, this was the start of a fast and furious ride through the remarkable downfall of a once highly-prized company.

Written in an intense, fast paced narrative style, 24 Days tells the gripping story of the colossal collapse of what would become the world's most notorious corporation. The reader follows along as Smith and Emshwiller continue to uncover new partnerships and self-dealing among the highest levels of Enron's management. As they publish articles detailing their findings in the Journal, Wall Street and individual investors have a crisis of confidence and start selling Enron stock at unprecedented levels of volume. In the end - 24 short days later - Enron had completely collapsed, erasing 16 years of growth and losing $19 billion in market value while watching the stock drop from $33.84 to $8.41. Not only was the company destroyed, but investors and retired employees were completely wiped out-all the while Enron executives were collecting millions of dollars.

Climaxing with this 24-day period, this book shows the reporter's-eye view of a David-and-Goliath battle between journalists and a giant corporation. Each day a new story uncovered another fact; each day the company issued denials. And when the investigative stories reached critical mass and momentum, the stock market cast its final vote of no confidence. In the tradition of Indecent Exposure and Barbarians at the Gate, two other gripping narratives that began as a series of Wall Street Journal stories and ended up as books that defined an era, 24 Days brings the importance of great investigative journalism to life.

This is the story of Rebecca Smith and John R. Emshwiller, the two reporters who led the Wall Street Journal 's reporting on Enron and uncovered the unorthodox partnerships at the heart of the scandal through skill, luck, and relentless determination. It all started in August 2001when Emshwiller was assigned to write a supposedly simple article on the unexpected resignation of Enron CEO Jeff Skilling. During his research, Emshwiller uncovered a buried reference to an off-balance-sheet partnership called LJM. Little did he know, this was the start of a fast and furious ride through the remarkable downfall of a once highly-prized company. Written in an intense, fast paced narrative style, 24 Days tells the gripping story of the colossal collapse of what would become the world's most notorious corporation. The reader follows along as Smith and Emshwiller continue to uncover new partnerships and self-dealing among the highest levels of Enron's management. As they publish articles detailing their findings in the Journal, Wall Street and individual investors have a crisis of confidence and start selling Enron stock at unprecedented levels of volume. In the end - 24 short days later - Enron had completely collapsed, erasing 16 years of growth and losing $19 billion in market value while watching the stock drop from $33.84 to $8.41. Not only was the company destroyed, but investors and retired employees were completely wiped out-all the while Enron executives were collecting millions of dollars. Climaxing with this 24-day period, this book shows the reporter's-eye view of a David-and-Goliath battle between journalists and a giant corporation. Each day a new story uncovered another fact; each day the company issued denials. And when the investigative stories reached critical mass and momentum, the stock market cast its final vote of no confidence. In the tradition of Indecent Exposure and Barbarians at the Gate , two other gripping narratives that began as a series of Wall Street Journal stories and ended up as books that defined an era, 24 Days brings the importance of great investigative journalism to life. "This is the story of two Wall Street Journal beat reporters - one covering the energy industry just after the chaotic California electricity crisis; the other chasing stock swindlers. Together these journalists were ideally placed to uncover one of the great cons of the century. Here is a story about the fall of a great company, and the practice of journalism, marked by skill, luck, and determination." "24 Days is the gripping, untold chronicle of the investigative process - often haphazard but imbued with insight and commitment - that broke through Enron's stonewalling and exposed its inner workings, setting in motion a chain of events that shook the public's trust in big business, Wall Street, and the accounting profession."--Jacket In a fast-paced, narrative expos��, two Wall Street Journal journalists reveal the financial machinations and deceit that led to the 2001 fall of Enron, offering an inside look at the investigative process that led to the discovery of the truth about the company's financial losses and their corrupt accounting practices. Reprint. 30,000 first printing. Chronicles the fall of Enron in 2001 due to the investigative process of two reporters who were able to uncover the truth about the company's financial losses