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

by Bethany McLean

A former army tank captain, Whalley personified the trader’s view of the world. He saw everything in terms of split-second economics; if he couldn’t buy or sell something right this second, it seemed to have no value to him. His favorite book was Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, which extols individual achievement and drive over the will of the group. He believed in a culture that maximized the ability of individuals to make their own decisions and reap their own rewards. “People were able to take risks the way they wanted and be accountable for it, which is the most sacred thing in a trading shop,” says a former trader. Whalley had the trader’s ability to strip his decision-making of all emotional content, which he viewed as noneconomic. That’s why another executive says that Whalley “would have been content to interact with a computer 360 days a year.” Even more than Skilling, Whalley believed that he could create a pure meritocracy. He instilled a culture on the trading floor that was ruthlessly mercenary.