sheldonm Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 (edited) This just popped up on my pc at work...msnbc says heart attack, I would have predicted suicide! Enron founder Ken Lay has died in Aspen, Colorado, a spokesman for Lay's family said today. Lay was awaiting sentencing after being found guilty of conspiracy and fraud. Edited July 5, 2006 by sheldonm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert J Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 On the day he was convicted, Mr. Lay — who was a prominent member of Houston's First United Methodist Church — told reporters that he maintained his innocence but said he was putting his fate in the hands of God. "We believe God in fact is in control and he does indeed work all things for the good," he said. I guess GOD had a hand in this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Sorry to be so cynical, but I guess the appointed creep in the White House won't have "Kenny Boy" to pardon. Oh well, there's still Scooter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanbeat Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 I'm sure he's gone to a better place... Next! ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/07/05/D8ILSUMG0.html Enron Founder Kenneth Lay Dies at 64 Jul 05 10:39 AM US/Eastern Email this story By KRISTEN HAYS AP Business Writer HOUSTON Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay, who was convicted of helping perpetuate one of the most sprawling business frauds in U.S. history, has died of a heart attack in Colorado. He was 64. A secretary at his church and another secretary for his lead criminal lawyer, Michael Ramsey, both confirmed the death. Lay, who lived in Houston, frequently vacationed in Colorado. Lay, who faced life in prison, was scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 23. Nicknamed "Kenny Boy" by President Bush, Lay led Enron's meteoric rise from a staid natural gas pipeline company formed by a 1985 merger to an energy and trading conglomerate that reached No. 7 on the Fortune 500 in 2000 and claimed $101 billion in annual revenues. He was convicted May 25 along with former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling of defrauding investors and employees by repeatedly lying about Enron's financial strength in the months before the company plummeted into bankruptcy protection in December 2001. Lay was also convicted in a separate non-jury trial of bank fraud and making false statements to banks, charges related to his personal finances. Lay had built Enron into a high-profile, widely admired company, the seventh-largest publicly traded in the country. But Enron collapsed after it was revealed the company's finances were based on a web of fraudulent partnerships and schemes, not the profits that it reported to investors and the public. When Lay and Skilling went on trial in U.S. District Court Jan. 30, it had been expected that Lay, who enjoyed great popularity throughout Houston as chairman of the energy company, might be able to charm the jury. But during his testimony, Lay ended up coming across as irritable and combative. He also sounded arrogant, defending his extravagant lifestyle, including a $200,000 yacht for wife Linda's birthday party, despite $100 million in personal debt and saying "it was difficult to turn off that lifestyle like a spigot." Both he and Skilling maintained that there had been no wrongdoing at Enron, and that the company had been brought down by negative publicity that undermined investors' confidence. His defense didn't help his case with jurors. "I wanted very badly to believe what they were saying," juror Wendy Vaughan said after the verdicts were announced. "There were places in the testimony I felt their character was questionable." Lay was born in Tyrone, Mo. and spent his childhood helping his family make ends meet. His father ran a general store and sold stoves until he became a minister. Lay delivered newspapers and mowed lawns to pitch in. He attended the University of Missouri, found his calling in economics, and went to work at Exxon Mobil Corp. predecessor Humble Oil & Refining upon graduation. He joined the Navy, served his time at the Pentagon, and then served as undersecretary for the Department of the Interior before he returned to business. He became an executive at Florida Gas, then Transco Energy in Houston, and later became CEO of Houston Natural Gas. In 1985, HNG merged with InterNorth in Omaha, Neb. to form Enron, and Lay became chairman and CEO of the combined company the next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Doesn't one need to have a heart in order to die from a "heart attack?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted July 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Doesn't one need to have a heart in order to die from a "heart attack?" ...true enough.....Gods way of paying back a guy relaxing in his "vacation" home while thousands of those he helped screw scrape to hold it together! m~ ..this should probably be in the political forum and I posted it here by accident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownian Motion Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 He was like a character from a Harold Robbins novel: a kindly, ministerial exterior cloaking a ruthless, predatory business animal. I'm not sure who got the last laugh here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 (edited) Or maybe... he's on a private island somewhere, later to be joined by his wife. It's all just a little too perfect, don't ya think? George didn't want to go down in history as the guy who pardoned one of the worst corporate criminals in modern times, so... Watch for a story that "confirms" the identity of the body, like DNA or something. :rsmile: Edited July 5, 2006 by Joe G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Joe, are you becoming a conspiracist? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Heart attack? Hmmmm...you've got to wonder... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Heart attack? Hmmmm...you've got to wonder... See??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Wheel Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 (edited) Lay's coronary arteries denied all responsibility for this one. Apparently, it was all Andy Fastow's fault. Edited July 5, 2006 by Big Wheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonF Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Heart attack? Hmmmm...you've got to wonder... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 I wouldn't wish this fate on anyone, but if it had to happen to someone associated with Enron, why not Jeff Skilling? Of the two, he's far more despicable. Maybe, as Brownian has suggested, it's easy to be taken in by Lay's more benign outward appearance, but Skilling...now there's a genuine, card carrying dick head. The term "arrogant" doesn't begin to do him justice. Considering all the lives they collectively ruined, though, maybe that's parsing things a bit too finely. Up over and out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 When I told Ann the news this morning she said "They'll still go through with the sentencing, right?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris olivarez Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 Heart attack? Hmmmm...you've got to wonder... See??? I definitely put this one in the things that make you go hmm! catagory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chaney Posted July 5, 2006 Report Share Posted July 5, 2006 For his part, Mr. Lay always maintained his innocence. On the day of his conviction, he denied having ever done anything improper during his tenure at Enron. "We believe that God in fact is in control, and indeed he does work all things for good for those who love the Lord," he said outside the courthouse in Houston after the verdict. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 For his part, Mr. Lay always maintained his innocence. On the day of his conviction, he denied having ever done anything improper during his tenure at Enron. "We believe that God in fact is in control, and indeed he does work all things for good for those who love the Lord," he said outside the courthouse in Houston after the verdict. Straight from the Rove playbook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stereojack Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 Jeez, this is all too eerily reminiscent of the Morris Levy case a few years ago. Levy was a notorious mobster record label & nightclub owner who played by his own rules for decades. He was finally convicted of racketeering and died before serving a day in prison. Many believe he faked his death and skipped town. He had the money and the power to bring it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catesta Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 So what happens to the money? He's dead, but his family still has to give up the money, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 That's what I'm wondering, and why suicide came to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 There's already some speculation on one of the news sites that the government will never recoup any money now. The widow sure gets a good deal out of this. Some friend of his was quoted as saying that the strain of facing the rest of his life in prison when he knows he is innocent was just too much. Give me a fucking break. Didn't know that there was talk of Morris Levy having faked his death. Levy was listed on all previous versions of Lee Morgan's Tom Cat of having written the tune 'Rigor Mortis' (along with Joey Dee and Henry Glover). But the thing they copyrighted was just some primitive arrangement of Chopin's 'Funeral March'. I told MC about this, and it was finally corrected on the RVG (along with the correct spelling, 'Riggarmortes'). Levy also has his name as co-author of Frankie Lymon's 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love'. In the film of the same name, there is a courtroom scene in which the attorney for one of Lymon's three wives is asking Levy how he came about writing this tune with him. He asks him if they sat in a room together and wrote it. It's really hilarious. Bertrand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 EDITORIAL July 6, 2006 Ken Lay's Final Act These days, a fall from grace is generally a drawn-out affair, replete with legal appeals and bids for second or even third acts. For many Americans, Kenneth Lay's purgatory of disgrace and litigation may have seemed to go on longer than his glory days as the chief executive of Enron. But his death yesterday — after a trial in which he took the stand and was ultimately convicted on a long list of fraud and conspiracy charges — seemed very sudden indeed. It came before the expected final curtain — his sentencing and departure for prison. Victims of Enron's spectacular collapse may feel cheated that the company's public face and one of its leading architects died in comfort, in upscale Aspen, Colo., without ever serving a day for his many crimes. Supporters are likely to say that prosecutors and the press hounded him to an early grave. From any perspective, this feels like an unfinished tale. A true bootstraps story, Mr. Lay's life seemed at first scripted by Horatio Alger, now by Theodore Dreiser. With his folksy charm, the preacher's son who grew up poor in Missouri captivated the nation's attention in a way that Jeffrey Skilling, the former McKinsey consultant who was Mr. Lay's co-defendant, never could. A boardroom Icarus, Mr. Lay made a spectacular fortune and befriended the president before his beloved company evaporated, taking the dreams and retirement accounts of workers and investors with it and utterly changing the way corporate books and decisions are scrutinized. An American symbol was extinguished in court; it was a man who died yesterday. Mr. Lay was fairly convicted of his crimes, but he was also a father and grandfather, whose family mourns his passing. He was headed for the penitentiary, but that did not have to be the end for him. He would have had an opportunity to use his personal skills to help other prisoners. And at 64 years, he might have had another shot at that third act after all. Michael Milken has devoted much of his resources to medical research since serving his sentence. What Ken Lay might have done we will never know. Chances are it would have been interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 Wow. The NYT has more compassion than everyone who posted here combined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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