The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron

Name: The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
Price: 8.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.6 (4314 reviews)
Author: Bethany McLean

by Bethany McLean

Memoir Business

4.6 (4,314)

4.6 stars from 4,314 reviews. Top 57% of Memoir books we track.

440 pages~7.3 hr readPublished by Portfolio

$8.9940% off peak

Last checked: Apr 14, 2026

Price history: $1.99 – $14.99

While not the biggest discount we've seen for this book, it's still a great deal and we recommend grabbing it before price returns to its normal range.

Price range: $1.99 – $14.99

Buy on Amazon - $8.99

0 readers are tracking this book's price

Fans of these authors will like this...

Bethany McLean
John Carreyrou
Anna Delvey

Fans of these books will like this...

Bad Blood
The Dropout
A Few Lessons for My Daughters

Perfect for you if...

You want to understand how fraud actually happens at the highest levels, not just the abstract mechanics but the real people and ego clashes that enabled it.
You're interested in business history and the psychology of ambition, especially how smart people convince themselves their lies are justified.
You enjoyed the investigative urgency of All the President's Men and want that same narrative drive applied to a corporate scandal instead of Watergate.

Maybe not for you if...

You prefer fast-paced thrillers with clear heroes and villains; this is meticulously researched non-fiction that builds understanding rather than suspense.
You don't care about business or finance and find corporate scandals abstract; the book assumes some interest in how markets and companies actually work.
You need a quick read; at 440 pages with dense financial detail, this rewards patient, careful attention.

About this book

Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, senior writers at Fortune, investigate the rise and fall of Enron. Two years before the company's collapse, Enron was viewed as a successful New Economy company with strong profits and stock performance. McLean's Fortune article questioning how Enron actually made money marked the beginning of the company's unraveling. Based on extensive research and unique sources, the book traces Enron's trajectory from obscurity to the top of the business world and its eventual collapse. It examines major figures including Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, and Andy Fastow, alongside lesser-known players like Cliff Baxter and Rebecca Mark. The narrative reveals the company's operations through private meetings and internal dynamics. The book presents Enron's story as one involving greed, arrogance, and deceit, offering an account of the scandal and the people involved.

Get the best deal every time

We track price drops, sale patterns, and predict when this book will go on offer next.

Price History

Kindle price over time. Green zones = periods when the book was free.

$1.99 – $14.99

Currently on sale at $8.99 — 40% off peak. Price has dropped 7 times over the last 6 years. Goes on sale roughly every 344 days.

Sales Rank

Amazon sales rank: lower number = better selling book. #1 is the bestseller.

Currently around #58K in the Kindle store — a steady mid-list seller. Climbing the charts — 34% improvement recently.

Rating & Reviews

Purple line = star rating over time. Blue area = total review count growth.

Currently 4.6★ from 4,314 reviews

Gaining approximately 21 new reviews per month. Steady word of mouth growth. Rating has remained stable at 4.6 over the tracking period.

Sale Prediction

Actual Predicted

This book is currently discounted at $8.99. It typically returns to around $14.99.

Prices shown in USD from Amazon US. We continuously pull new data to improve tracking. If dates look old, it usually means there has been no significant change since the last data point.