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re: Arthur Andersen: 20 Years Later
Posted on 9/1/22 at 5:49 am to H2O Tiger
Posted on 9/1/22 at 5:49 am to H2O Tiger
I knew a bunch of A Andersen guys. What the firm did was awful, but "shutting it down" was not a solution. They all went to other consulting firms like Deloitte and EY, and a few new firms sprung up out of the ashes like Accenture and West Monroe.
Such a punishment, all the partners lateral to another firm or start another firm and had to cut that 2003 trip to Caymans or buy an E320 instead of E500.
Lot more folks should've done time or had their tickets pulled.
Such a punishment, all the partners lateral to another firm or start another firm and had to cut that 2003 trip to Caymans or buy an E320 instead of E500.
Lot more folks should've done time or had their tickets pulled.
This post was edited on 9/1/22 at 5:50 am
2
Posted on 9/1/22 at 9:50 am to tadman
quote:
They all went to other consulting firms like Deloitte and EY, and a few new firms sprung up out of the ashes like Accenture and West Monroe.
Such a punishment, all the partners lateral to another firm or start another firm and had to cut that 2003 trip to Caymans or buy an E320 instead of E500.
You're right. Former Andersen guys are running every accounting firm in Dallas and Houston. They're starting to retire now though.
Posted on 9/1/22 at 9:51 am to H2O Tiger
quote:
Batting 1.000 on the largest frauds of the 90's/2000s
Now it's EY that's auditing all the train wrecks in tech.
Posted on 9/1/22 at 9:53 am to H2O Tiger
quote:
Arthur Andersen: 20 Years Later
My old consulting firm was started by a bunch of ex AA folks. the consulting business got fricked because of the box checkers in audit. Ruined a century of legacy in a couple of years.
Posted on 9/1/22 at 9:56 am to dewster
I worked at one of the big six firms (not AA) first job out of college.
The pressure they put on staff auditors with deadlines and workload was criminal and I don't know how many days I left that job feeling helpless trying to get cooperation from your client about anything. Those frauds were probably the best thing that happened to the entire industry.
It did get me my second job with a client and the best day of my life was leaving that firm.
The pressure they put on staff auditors with deadlines and workload was criminal and I don't know how many days I left that job feeling helpless trying to get cooperation from your client about anything. Those frauds were probably the best thing that happened to the entire industry.
It did get me my second job with a client and the best day of my life was leaving that firm.
Posted on 9/1/22 at 9:58 am to nicholastiger
quote:
The pressure they put on staff auditors with deadlines and workload was criminal and I don't know how many days I left that job feeling helpless trying to get cooperation from your client about anything. Those frauds were probably the best thing that happened to the entire industry.
That hasn't changed. 100 hour weeks are still a thing
Posted on 9/1/22 at 9:59 am to H2O Tiger
Classmate of mine had interned with them and had a job offer for her graduation in mid-2001.
She was unemployed before she graduated due to the firm going bust, though she got hired on by Reliant, where she had been working for AA, after the dust settled.
I keep her in my memory as an example of no matter how good you are, shite can happen outside of your control.
She was unemployed before she graduated due to the firm going bust, though she got hired on by Reliant, where she had been working for AA, after the dust settled.
I keep her in my memory as an example of no matter how good you are, shite can happen outside of your control.
This post was edited on 9/1/22 at 9:59 am
Posted on 9/1/22 at 10:01 am to tadman
quote:
all the partners lateral to another firm or start another firm and had to cut that 2003 trip to Caymans or buy an E320 instead of E500.
Lot more folks should've done time or had their tickets pulled.
Hard to punish the other offices more when it was the Houston office that was involved with Enron.
I worked at another office and the partner I worked for asked me to read the "product" from a certain Texas law firm that came up with that "plan". I read through the document and wrote a memo that I couldn't find the legal basis for claiming the losses. I didn't agree with the "more likely than not." The partner agreed and so our office didn't use that "product" with any of our clients.
A girl I went to law school with worked for a Delaware firm that supposedly set up all the entities.
Oh well, I had left AA before all that came crashing down.
This post was edited on 9/1/22 at 10:03 am
Posted on 9/1/22 at 10:03 am to barry
The AA audit side had very smart and capable people. They were eventually hamstrung by upper management at both Enron and AA.
When the client is that large, and provides for such a large chunk of revenue, conflicts of interest and pressure to maintain that client account mount.
Enron exploited this pressure and the AA mgmt team should have known better.
When the client is that large, and provides for such a large chunk of revenue, conflicts of interest and pressure to maintain that client account mount.
Enron exploited this pressure and the AA mgmt team should have known better.
Posted on 9/1/22 at 10:11 am to H2O Tiger
good friend worked for AA and handled WorldCom. We were all about a year or two out of college and partied hard a few times on "Uncle Arthur's" corporate card. He had to keep a low profile for a few years after SHTF. His stories of the two weeks before the collapse are a pretty interesting. The characters' behaviors and attitudes in the movie Margin Call reminds me a lot of what he said it was like. They knew something wasn't "right" in the few months leading up to it. Then they were all brought into a room and told to jump on any offers they had from competitors because they were "winding down" operations, clean up your shite, do not delete anything, and start packing your bags.
Posted on 9/1/22 at 10:13 am to Duckhammer_77
quote:
good friend worked for AA and handled WorldCom
I was scheduled to be onsite for WorldCom near the end but that assignment got pulled.
Posted on 9/1/22 at 10:16 am to TigerDeacon
quote:
WorldCom
Bernie Ebbers paid for my basketball scolly at MC. CSB
Posted on 9/1/22 at 10:24 am to H2O Tiger
There's almost no greater albatross around the neck of the American economy than the finance and accounting sectors.
Posted on 9/1/22 at 10:27 am to Oilfieldbiology
quote:
They probably speak highly of the firm because they could just make up what ever numbers they wanted and make sick bonuses. Hooray internal audit and accounting, where numbers aren’t real and the values are made up
uh, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Arthur Anderson 9-0
And the Supreme Court RARELY decides 9-0 on anything
It looks like the govt is once again pulling another Arthur Anderson, with its pursuit of Trump. The only evil entity in this story is the DOJ
Posted on 9/1/22 at 10:28 am to H2O Tiger
quote:
Fun Fact: The Andersen Houston office not only audited Enron, but also had Waste Management and World Com
I worked at WorldcCom from 2000-2002
Was a WILD ride watching the scandal break out. We all saw that the company was at risk due to not having a great cellular business. Security would post the closing stock price in the lobby everyday. Was fun watching the price go from $65/share on the NASDAQ to $.0001/share on some unlisted exchange
My stock options strike price was $70
This post was edited on 9/1/22 at 10:29 am
Posted on 9/1/22 at 10:45 am to H2O Tiger
I ended up meeting a former Enron exec one day while day drinking at Joey Roses in NYC. It sounds like those baws were having the time of their lives back then, and he landed on his feet just fine.
The conversation made me feel like I really missed my calling in life.
The conversation made me feel like I really missed my calling in life.
Posted on 9/1/22 at 11:46 am to MyRockstarComplex
Worked in the NOLA AA office during that timeframe. It was nuts. We were going to mergerbour office with KPMG but ended up with EY.
AA was a definite work hard play hard mentality. My first year I worked over 2800 chargeable hours but never paid for a lunch.
AA was a definite work hard play hard mentality. My first year I worked over 2800 chargeable hours but never paid for a lunch.
Posted on 9/1/22 at 12:43 pm to Tigeralum2008
quote:
Was a WILD ride watching the scandal break out. We all saw that the company was at risk due to not having a great cellular business. Security would post the closing stock price in the lobby everyday. Was fun watching the price go from $65/share on the NASDAQ to $.0001/share on some unlisted exchange
My stock options strike price was $70
I feel you. I worked for a Houston healthcare company that had our own little mini (just because we were a much smaller company) Enron/WorldCom. We had a shady company that merged into us as a way to go public. They had some public debt and management decided to not do much due diligence and rely on EY's audit work. There was a IPO and within a week millions of bad receivables were being written off. Stock price continued to drop till options were underwater. We restated 5 years earnings and most of us got stay on bonuses while the company was taken into bankruptcy and sold off piece by piece.
I was in my 30s and it's the first time I realized I was paid to have a professional opinion and not do a job and that it's possible to go to jail even if you aren't the big boss. Doing what you're told isn't an excuse.
Posted on 9/1/22 at 1:04 pm to nicholastiger
quote:
I worked at one of the big six firms (not AA) first job out of college. The pressure they put on staff auditors with deadlines and workload was criminal and I don't know how many days I left that job feeling helpless trying to get cooperation from your client about anything. Those frauds were probably the best thing that happened to the entire industry. It did get me my second job with a client and the best day of my life was leaving that firm.
This is a reason I couldn’t do it. Just been doing accounting for a private company.
I’ve thought about moving and maybe going to a bigger firm but after covid I’m glad I’m friends with my ceo and will prob never leave now.
Posted on 9/1/22 at 1:10 pm to H2O Tiger
A different company but our boss called an "All Staff" meeting and fired 400+ people.
During the banking crisis, we were servicing mid and small Banks all across the US .
I was out of town but got an email on my Blackberry showing my separation agreement
Bad Times
During the banking crisis, we were servicing mid and small Banks all across the US .
I was out of town but got an email on my Blackberry showing my separation agreement
Bad Times
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