Bethany McLean


Bethany Lee McLean is an American journalist and contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine. She is known for her writing on the Enron scandal and the 2008 financial crisis. Previous assignments include editor-at-large, columnist for Fortune and a contributor to Slate.

Early life and education

McLean was born in Hibbing, Minnesota on December 12, 1970. In 1992 McLean received a B.A. in English and mathematics from Williams College.

Career

McLean started her career as an investment banking analyst for Goldman Sachs and joined Vanity Fair as a contributing editor in 2008. She began as a contributor to "Slate's" Moneybox column, in 2010 and "The Bulldog" column in "Fortune".
She authored an article on Enron for the March 5, 2001 issue of Fortune entitled, "Is Enron Overpriced?" The article noted some irregularities in Enron's financial documents that were available to the public, suggesting the company's then-record high stock price was unjustified but she did not at that point suspect fraud at Enron. After Enron's rapid collapse later in 2001, McLean co-authored the book The Smartest Guys in the Room which detailed the corrupt business practices of Enron officials. The book was later made into the Academy Award-nominated documentary .
She co-authored a book on the 2008 financial crisis titled All the Devils Are Here.
In September 2015, she published Shaky Ground: The Strange Saga of the U.S. Mortgage Giants which examines the governance and financial situation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seven years after the 2008 financial crisis.

Personal life

McLean married Chris Wilford in 2000 and divorced in 2006. In May 2008, she married attorney Sean Berkowitz, the former Director of the United States Department of Justice Enron Task Force.
McLean resides in Chicago with her husband and children.

Books

Essays and reporting