CONVICTED ENRON EXCUTIVE LAY DIES OF A HEART ATTACK
Randy L. Harrington
July 05, 2006
COLORADO—Former Chairman of Enron, Kenneth Lay has died of a heart attack at 64 years old.
Kenneth Lay, the former Enron Executive who was convicted in federal court of his crimes that brought Enron to financial ruin, has died of a heart attack in Colorado. Lay was 64 years old.
Pitkin Colorado Sheriffs Office said that deputies were dispatched to Lay's Colorado home in Old Snowmass shortly after 1 am mountain standard time. Lay was transported to Aspen Valley Hospital Emergency Room, where he was pronounced dead at 3:11 am. Lay was a resident of Houston, but frequently vacationed at his home in Colorado.
A Lay spokesperson, Kelly Kimberly released a statement this morning that “Ken Lay passed away early this morning. The Lays have a very large family with whom we need to communicate. Out of respect for them we are not releasing any more information at this time.”
A Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Houston, Steve Wende said that Lay, who was a church member died unexpectedly of a “massive coronary.” Wende said that Lay, and his wife were in Aspen Colorado for the week, and that “his death was totally unexpected. Apparently his heart simply gave out.”
A Pitkin County mortuary received a call today from the Pitkin County Medical Examiner asking that they transport Lay's body to their office for an autopsy.
Lay was convicted in federal court in the Enron scandal that brought the company to ruin. Lay was facing sentencing in the case that could have resulted in him spending the rest of his life in prison. Sentencing in that case was scheduled for October 23.
Lay is known for founding Enron, a natural gas pipeline company that was formed in 1985 through its merger to an energy giant. Enron was number 7 on the Fortune 500 list in 2000.
Lay was convicted in federal court on May 25 of defrauding investors, defrauding employees, and by making material misstatements about Enron's financial strength, and accounting before his company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2001.
Lay had a reputation of being a highly successful business person, who had an engaging personality. He considered the Bush family to be a close friend.
Lay's trial strategy was to charm the jury with his personality, and down home charms. Instead when Lay took the stand in his criminal case he portrayed a man that was irritable, very combative, and defensive of questionable business decisions, and accounting practices.
Lay attempted to defend his excessive lifestyle when it became known that he gave his wife, Linda a $200,000 yacht for her birthday, while his personal debts were at a high of about $100 million.
Jurors remarked after the trial that Lay's character, and conduct were “questionable.” And that it was his lifestyle that the jurors could not relate to. One juror said that it one of the facts that convinced him of Lay's guilt was when he became uncomfortable about explaining why he would give his wife a $200,00 yacht, when he owed $100 million. The juror found the fact that Lay was the primary user of the yacht he gave his wife, Linda, to be particularity deceitful.
Lay has maintained that Enron's chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow and other high placed employees were responsible for the false information, and that it was they that devised the complex and confusing investment strategies that were used to defraud investors, and employees. Andrew Fastow was convicted of his role in the Enron collapse and is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence.
The Enron scandal led to the loss of 5,000 jobs. The company filed bankruptcy, and employees lost $1 billion in employee pensions. Investor lawsuits have claimed losses of about $25 billion.
After Lay was discharged from the U.S. Navy, and his service at the Pentagon he became the Undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Interior.
After his brief employment with Interior he went to work for Florida Gas, and then Transco Energy in Houston. He became Chief Executive of Houston Natural Gas Company, which later merged with InterNorth Gas Company of Nebraska. Eventually InterNorth became Enron.
In 1986 Lay became the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Enron. Many close to Enron said that Lay was a great business person, but at times he was gullible, and seemed to relish the financial benefits of being in charge, while ignoring the day-to-day “nuts and bolts” of running Enron.
SOURCES/CONTRIBUTORS: UPI; CNN; REUTERS;
Copyright 2006 Randy L. Harrington. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Kenneth Lay, the former Enron Executive who was convicted in federal court of his crimes that brought Enron to financial ruin, has died of a heart attack in Colorado. Lay was 64 years old.
Pitkin Colorado Sheriffs Office said that deputies were dispatched to Lay's Colorado home in Old Snowmass shortly after 1 am mountain standard time. Lay was transported to Aspen Valley Hospital Emergency Room, where he was pronounced dead at 3:11 am. Lay was a resident of Houston, but frequently vacationed at his home in Colorado.
A Lay spokesperson, Kelly Kimberly released a statement this morning that “Ken Lay passed away early this morning. The Lays have a very large family with whom we need to communicate. Out of respect for them we are not releasing any more information at this time.”
A Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Houston, Steve Wende said that Lay, who was a church member died unexpectedly of a “massive coronary.” Wende said that Lay, and his wife were in Aspen Colorado for the week, and that “his death was totally unexpected. Apparently his heart simply gave out.”
A Pitkin County mortuary received a call today from the Pitkin County Medical Examiner asking that they transport Lay's body to their office for an autopsy.
Lay was convicted in federal court in the Enron scandal that brought the company to ruin. Lay was facing sentencing in the case that could have resulted in him spending the rest of his life in prison. Sentencing in that case was scheduled for October 23.
Lay is known for founding Enron, a natural gas pipeline company that was formed in 1985 through its merger to an energy giant. Enron was number 7 on the Fortune 500 list in 2000.
Lay was convicted in federal court on May 25 of defrauding investors, defrauding employees, and by making material misstatements about Enron's financial strength, and accounting before his company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2001.
Lay had a reputation of being a highly successful business person, who had an engaging personality. He considered the Bush family to be a close friend.
Lay's trial strategy was to charm the jury with his personality, and down home charms. Instead when Lay took the stand in his criminal case he portrayed a man that was irritable, very combative, and defensive of questionable business decisions, and accounting practices.
Lay attempted to defend his excessive lifestyle when it became known that he gave his wife, Linda a $200,000 yacht for her birthday, while his personal debts were at a high of about $100 million.
Jurors remarked after the trial that Lay's character, and conduct were “questionable.” And that it was his lifestyle that the jurors could not relate to. One juror said that it one of the facts that convinced him of Lay's guilt was when he became uncomfortable about explaining why he would give his wife a $200,00 yacht, when he owed $100 million. The juror found the fact that Lay was the primary user of the yacht he gave his wife, Linda, to be particularity deceitful.
Lay has maintained that Enron's chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow and other high placed employees were responsible for the false information, and that it was they that devised the complex and confusing investment strategies that were used to defraud investors, and employees. Andrew Fastow was convicted of his role in the Enron collapse and is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence.
The Enron scandal led to the loss of 5,000 jobs. The company filed bankruptcy, and employees lost $1 billion in employee pensions. Investor lawsuits have claimed losses of about $25 billion.
After Lay was discharged from the U.S. Navy, and his service at the Pentagon he became the Undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Interior.
After his brief employment with Interior he went to work for Florida Gas, and then Transco Energy in Houston. He became Chief Executive of Houston Natural Gas Company, which later merged with InterNorth Gas Company of Nebraska. Eventually InterNorth became Enron.
In 1986 Lay became the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Enron. Many close to Enron said that Lay was a great business person, but at times he was gullible, and seemed to relish the financial benefits of being in charge, while ignoring the day-to-day “nuts and bolts” of running Enron.
SOURCES/CONTRIBUTORS: UPI; CNN; REUTERS;
Copyright 2006 Randy L. Harrington. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.