Movies & TV shows with stories that provide unique perspectives on business, many based on real-life events and “learning opportunities”.
Something Ventured: Writing the Check is the Easy Part
Risk, Reward and the Original Venture Capitalists
Wall Street - the original
Gordon Gecko is the elephant and young stockbroker Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) hustles his way into his office and the world of corporate espionage, insider trading, and the boom and bust that comes along with it all.
Barbarians at the Gate
I highly recommend this movie for any serious student of business, especially finance and corporate mergers & acquisitions. RJR Nabisco tries to pull off the largest corporate LBO (leveraged buyout) and the very real boardroom battles that unfolded with some surprises navigated by F. Ross Johnson, CEO of RJR Nabisco, Henry Kravis of Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts (KKR), and Jim Robinson, Chairman & CEO of American Express. The stakes are huge and the tables turn quickly as a bidding war breaks out between the financial sharks of Wall Street duke it out between KKR, American Express’s Shearson Lehman Hutton group, and Ted Forstmann with Forstmann Little.
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Fortune Magazine reporters examine the 2001 collapse of Enron Corporation, one of the largest business scandals in American history. The trading and manipulation of electrical power triggered the California electricity crisis and resulted in criminal trials for several of the company’s top executives.
Winner: Best Documentary Screenplay: Writer’s Guild of America
Winner: Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature: Writer’s Guild of America
Nominee: 78th Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature
Silicon Cowboys