The Sinking of a Giant - Andersen Goes Under

In January 2002, Senator Joseph Lieberman appeared on CBS' Face The Nation talking about the revelations that Arthur Andersen destroyed documents in the Enron investigation. Lieberman prophetically declared that, "this Enron episode may end this company's history." Even the brilliance of hiring Paul Volcker to reform the firm didn't help Andersen. Within two months Andersen was indicted on criminal charges. Three months later the firm was found guilty, and two months after that formally surrendered it's license to practice auditing. As clients, partners and staff bailed out throughout the year, the 89-year-old giant of the accounting profession was painfully put to rest.

01/11/02 Andersen Admits Destroying Enron Documents [1]

01/21/02 States May Revoke Andersen's License to Practice [2]

01/29/02 Andersen Named in Class Action Suit [3]

02/04/02 Andersen Hires Paul Volcker to Reform, Restore Trust [4]

03/15/02 Andersen Indicted on Criminal Charges [5]

03/28/02 Andersen's Global Network Merger Plans Unravel [6]

06/17/02 Andersen Found Guilty [7]

06/17/02 Andersen to Cease Auditing Publicly-Held Companies [8]

09/03/02 Good-Bye Andersen: Venerable Giant Will Audit No More [9]

09/13/02 Judge Refuses Andersen's Request for New Trial [10]

A complete digest of all Anderson/Enron related stories [11] is available.

A list of Andersen client defections [12] is also available.