Kenneth Lay
Kenneth Lee Lay (born April 15, 1942) is an American businessman and former CEO of Enron Corporation. Lay was the CEO and chairman of Enron from 1986 until his resignation in January 23, 2002 except for a few months in 2001 when he was chairman and Jeffrey Skilling was CEO.
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.
On July 7, 2004, Kenneth 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. If convicted on all counts, Lay faced 175 years in prison.
Education
B.A., University of Missouri, 1964
M.A., University of Missouri, 1965
Ph.D, University of Houston, 1970
(All in economics)
Curriculum vitae
- 1965: Economist, Exxon Corporation
- 1969: Assistant professor, George Washington University
- 1971: Assistant to a commissioner, Federal Power Commission
- 1972: Undersecretary for energy issues, Department of the Interior
- 1974: Vice president, chief operating officer, Chief executive officer, Enron formed by merger of Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth
- 1990: Chairman of the board and chief executive officer, Enron co-chairman, organizing committee for G-7 summit
- 1992: Co-chairman, President Bush Re-election Committee chairman, 1992 Republican National Convention, Houston
- 1992: Assists with campaign of Sheila Jackson-Lee to defeat Congressman Jeffrey Skilling becomes CEO of Enron for a few months
- 2002: Amid extreme pressure, Lay resigns as Enron CEO, leaves board
See also: Timeline of the Enron scandal
