Betting on recovery
In March 2002, on a voyeuristic impulse, I went to Enron’s bankruptcy auction at the firm’s offices in London’s smart SW1 district. From the top floor there was a view of the private royal gardens of Buckingham Palace; and from there, Enron’s executives could literally look down on the Queen.
Below, in a vast steel and glass atrium, auctioneers appointed by the officialreceivers, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), briskly sold off Enron’s computerhardware and office furniture. PwC was doing this on behalf of Enron’screditors. The appetite of buyers for second-hand Aeron chairs, Cisco routersand flat screen monitors, here and at other places across the world, would helpdetermine the recovery rate these creditors would ultimately receive on their$67 billion of defaulted loans and bonds.
We
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