Biography

Bethany McLean is a columnist for Slate and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. She joined Slate in October 2010 and Vanity Fair in July 2008 after spending thirteen years at Fortune, where she was an editor-at-large. In early 2001, McLean was one of the first reporters to raise questions about Enron, with her story Is Enron Overpriced? She and fellow Fortune senior writer Peter Elkind exposed the Enron scandal and wrote the national bestseller The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron, which went on to become an Oscar-nominated documentary.

McLean has also written in-depth pieces about the credit rating agencies, Goldman Sachs, President Clinton’s global philanthropy, Australia’s Macquarie Bank, and more. Before joining Fortune, she spent three years as an analyst at Goldman Sachs. She graduated from Williams College in 1992 with a double major in mathematics and English.

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Videos

Ten Years Hence Lecture: Two Decades of Covering Business: A Journalist’s View

Bethany McLean — The Knowledge Project #85

Bethany McLean Has Something To Say, and You Should Listen

Bethany McLean at 2020 UW-Stevens Point Business and Society Lecture

The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis

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Speech TopicsExpand each topic to learn more

Fracking and Environmental Justice

Author of Saudi America: The Truth About Fracking and How It’s Changing the World, Bethany McLean shares her expertise on fracking with audiences. McLean shares her insights on the issues surrounding fracking as well as its causes and effects on other areas of our society – how low-interest rates are driving fracking, the shifting world of energy, and changing relationships between Russia and Europe. She discusses the issue of the development of fossil fuels not aligning with the math of the Paris climate accord, posing the question of what might be next for fossil fuels and how we can protect the environment in finding the answer.

Business Ethics

From her experience as an analyst at Goldman Sachs through her work at Fortune exposing the Enron scandal, Bethany McLean gives audiences a look into what it means for a business to be ethical. In her talks, she delves into the discrepancies between morality and illegality and offers insight into the corruption that occurs when the people at the top take on all of the reward and none of the risk. In these talks, McLean draws on her published works and her personal findings as a member of the business world.

The Financial Crisis (All the Devils Are Here)

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Government Regulation of Business

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Wall Street

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Print Journalism

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Enron (The Smartest Guys in the Room)

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Booksby Bethany McLean

All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis

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

Saudi America: The Truth About Fracking and How It's Changing the World

Shaky Ground: The Strange Saga of the U.S. Mortgage Giants

Blog Posts

Event Planning AI Revolution Transforms How Professionals Create Seamless Experiences

AI keynote speaker Kate O'Neill share event planning strategies that can help professionals streamline workflows while preserving human connection.

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Persuasion Without Pressure: Why Service-Based Influence Wins Every Time

People resist persuasion but crave great service. Learn how to influence through assistance, not manipulation, with proven strategies from Dan Pink.

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Team Energy Solutions That Transform Workplace Culture with Judi Holler

Discover proven team energy strategies from keynote speaker Judi Holler that transform workplace culture and unlock your team's creative potential.

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How Event Professionals Can Recover from Burnout Without Sacrificing Success

Learn how event pros can build mental resilience and prevent workplace exhaustion with these proven burnout recovery strategies.

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Why Human Connection Drives Real Change

Change keynote speaker April Rinne discussing human-centered change strategies that go beyond listing what you want to transform in your life.

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AI Strategies to Increase Productivity According to Lisa Bodell

Learn AI productivity strategies from innovation keynote speaker Lisa Bodell to automate routine tasks and reclaim time for creative work.

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