ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM Aired at 05:00 PM on Monday, Apr 05, 2010 (4/5/2010), CNBC Transcript courtesty of ARK TV http://tv.ark.com/transcript/enron__the_smartest_guys_in_the_room/5406/CNBC/Monday_April_5_2010/246077/ Excerpts: 00:22:15 >> Jeff was like the prophet. 00:22:17 He came in and said there's a whole new world out there. 00:22:19 Forget about this pipeline stuff, .. 00:22:26 We can recreate this entire industry. .. 00:22:38 >> The excitement was palpable. 00:22:45 You cannot imagine how proud we all were to be there, and then, of course, we had a leader who imbued us with a sense of confidence that if we were smart, anything could be accomplished, and in the bottom line we began to make money, and that in and of itself was a reaffirmation that this could be big. ... 00:28:06 >> They pitched it almost as an economic religion. 00:28:11 >> Enron online will change the markets for many, many commodities. 00:28:17 It is creating an open, transparent marketplace that replaces the dark blind system that existed. 00:28:25 It is simple. 00:28:26 You turn on your computer, and it's right there. 00:28:28 That's our vision. 00:28:29 We're trying to change the world. ... 00:50:56 >> Just last week, enron captivated wall street with its bold move into broadband, teaming up with blockbuster to deliver movies on demand. 00:51:04 >> It was like being at a religious cult meeting. 00:51:08 People started jumping up from their seats with their cell phones and their blackberrys, running out to the halls to call their bosses. 00:51:18 >> One analyst summed up his recommendation to investors: "wow." enron's stock soared 34% in two days. 00:51:27 >> And you can tell from the response in the stock market that they like the strategy, it makes sense. 00:51:35 >> They announced they had developed the technology. 00:51:38 It would be in test markets by the end of the year. 00:51:41 >> And the technology works. 00:51:42 The quality is great and the customers like it. 00:51:47 So, we've made a lot of progress. 00:51:51 >> The truth was that enron was just struggling with the technology for video on demand. 00:51:56 >> The technology didn't work and the deal with blockbuster soon collapsed. ... 00:58:50 >> We were the poster child for the new economy. 00:58:54 We had this culture that had a lot of focus on reminding us how good we were. 00:58:57 And as that culture emerged, then we get to "fortune" magazine telling us we were the most innovative corporation in america. 00:59:02 Then we *really* began to feel good about ourselves. Video located at https://vimeo.com/71902085 , out of phase by approximately -00:03:40 .