I'm sure most have you have seen the old joke explaining various economic systems in terms of "You have two cows...."
Well, if you haven't seen it yet, here's the Enron version:
ENRON CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, accepting as payment letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by your CFO who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The audited annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on six more. You reward your auditor's diligence with a lucrative consulting contract.
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