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==Trivia== ==Trivia==
*The Ken Lay ] in ] in unincorporated ], ] was named after Ken Lay. Lay asked for his name to be removed from the YMCA in ] ]. The YMCA is, as of 2006, called the "Katy Family YMCA" after the city of ]. *The Ken Lay ] in ] in unincorporated ], ] was named after Ken Lay. Lay asked for his name to be removed from the YMCA in ] ]. The YMCA is, as of 2006, called the "Katy Family YMCA" after the city of ].

*Lay recruited fellow ] fraternity brother ] to work at ].


==See also== ==See also==

Revision as of 08:22, 9 June 2006

File:Ken lay enron.jpg
Kenneth Lay

Kenneth Lee Lay (born April 15, 1942), (a.k.a. Ken Lay) is a former American businessman, most notable as the former Chairman and CEO of Enron Corporation. Ken Lay and Enron became synonymous with corporate abuse and accounting fraud following the collapse of Enron in 2001. Lay was the CEO and chairman of the company from 1986 until his resignation on January 23, 2002, except for a few months in 2001 when he was chairman and Jeffrey Skilling was CEO.

On July 7, 2004, he was indicted by a grand jury on 11 counts of securities fraud and related charges.. On January 31, 2006, following four and a half years of preparation by government prosecutors, Lay's and Skilling's trial (on 9 counts against Lay rather than 11) began in Houston. After 56 days of testimony and six days of jury deliberation, Lay was found guilty on May 25, 2006 of all nine counts against him. The jury convicted Lay of one count of conspiracy, three counts of securities fraud, and two counts of wire fraud; in a separate bench trial, Judge Sim Lake found Lay guilty on three counts of making false statements to banks and one count of bank fraud. Because each count carries a maximum 5- to 10-year sentence, legal experts say Lay could face 20 to 30 years in prison.

A number of books have been written on Lay and Enron including Conspiracy of Fools (2005), Icarus in the Boardroom, The Smartest Guys in the Room (2003), and 24 Days. The Smartest Guys in the Room was adapted into a documentary film entitled Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, released in 2005.

Early life and career

Lay was born into a poor family in Tyrone, Missouri. His father was a Baptist preacher and some-time tractor salesman. He has been described by his undergraduate classmates at the University of Missouri as industrious and high-minded, and served as president of the Zeta Phi chapter of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at the University of Missouri and got his doctorate in economics at University of Houston in 1970.

Lay worked in the early ‘70s as a federal energy regulator. By the Reagan administration, when energy was deregulated, Lay was already an energy company executive and he took advantage of the new climate by merging Houston Natural Gas Co. with Nebraska-based Inter-North to form Enron.

Lay was one of America's highest-paid CEOs, earning (for example) a $42.4 million compensation package in 1999. Lay sold large amounts of his Enron stock in September and October of 2001 as its price fell, while encouraging employees to buy more stock, telling them the company would rebound. Lay liquidated more than $300 million in Enron stock from 1989 to 2001, mostly in stock options.

Lay maintained business and political ties to Republican government officials, hiring (for example) James Baker and Robert Mosbacher as they left the Cabinet of President George H. W. Bush (both men lobbied for Enron contracts in the wake of the First Gulf War). Lay was a supporter of current president George W. Bush for Governor of Texas; in 1999, Bush signed a law deregulating Texas electric markets. Bush carried on an extensive personal correspondence with Lay and Bush is reputed to have given Lay the personal nickname "Kenny Boy". Even though Bush uses it, the name originated with Lay's wife.

A Bush 'Pioneer,' Lay became one of the largest individual contributors to the Bush-Cheney 2000 presidential campaign: his donation history shows $651,760 to Republicans, $61,960 to Democrats, and $62,150 to special interests. Lay allowed Bush and Cheney to use his personal Enron jet for transportation during their 2000 election campaign, and served on the Bush-Cheney Transition Advisory Committee. According to Kurt Eichenwald's book Conspiracy of Fools, he was nearly selected to be Secretary of the Treasury following Bush's victory in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. Ultimately Paul O'Neill was chosen for the position instead.

Indictment and trial

On July 7, 2004, Lay was indicted by a grand jury in Houston, Texas for his role in Enron's collapse. Lay was charged, in a 65-page indictment, with 11 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, and making false and misleading statements. The trial commenced on January 30, 2006 in Houston, despite repeated protests from defense attorneys calling for a change in venue on the grounds that that "it was impossible to get a fair trial in Houston – the epicenter of Enron's collapse. Enron's bankruptcy, the biggest in U.S. history when it was filed in December 2001, cost 4,000 employees their jobs and many of them their life savings. Investors lost billions." During his trial, Lay claimed that in 2001 Enron stock made up about 90 percent of his wealth, and that his current net worth (in 2006) was in the negative by $250,000. On May 25, 2006 Lay was found guilty on all six counts of conspiracy and fraud by a jury of eight women and four men. In a separate bench trial, Judge Sim Lake ruled Lay was guilty of four counts of fraud and false statements. It was reported that Lay's congenial reputation took a blow as he appeared confrontational and irritable at several points during his testimony. Sentencing will take place during the week of September 11, 2006.

Education

Hickman High School - Columbia, MO

Career highlights

Trivia

  • The Ken Lay YMCA in Cinco Ranch in unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas was named after Ken Lay. Lay asked for his name to be removed from the YMCA in June 2006. The YMCA is, as of 2006, called the "Katy Family YMCA" after the city of Katy.

See also

References

  1. Crawford, Kristen (2004-7-12). "Lay surrenders to authorities". CNN Money. Retrieved 2006-5-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  2. ^ Pasha, Shaheen and Jessica Seid (2006-5-25). "Lay and Skilling's day of reckoning". CNN Money. Retrieved 2006-5-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  3. "Bush-Lay correspondence".
  4. Fineman, Howard (2005-5-25). "Kenny Boy, Meet Brownie". Newsweek. Retrieved 2005-5-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  5. "CNN: Bush-Lay letters suggest close relationship".
  6. "Ken Lay's Federal Campaign Contribution Report". NewsMeat. 2002. Retrieved 2006-5-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

External links

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