Kenneth L. Lay (born 1942) is an American businessman and former CEO of Enron Corporation. Lay was the CEO and chairman of Enron from 1986 until his resignation on January 23, 2002.
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 ( tranformed into currency) more than $300 million in Enron stock from 1989 to 2001, mostly in stock options.
Lay was a friend and supporter of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, who often had the ear of both on issues of energy policy.
During the 2000 campaign of George W. Bush, Lay was a "pioneer" - a supporter who gave more than $100,000. Enron and Lay have given the younger Bush over $600,000 during his entire political career. He was nicknamed "Kenny Boy" by George W. Bush, and was often noted by Bush at public events, before Lay's reputation was destroyed.
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, Florida Gas |
| 1976 | president, Florida Gas |
| 1979 | executive vice president, The Continental Group |
| 1981 | president, chief operating officer, Transco |
| 1984 | chief executive officer, Houston Natural Gas |
| 1985 | 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, Republican National Convention, Houston |
| 1992 | assists with campaign of Sheila Jackson-Lee to defeat Congressman Craig Washington |
| 2001 | Jeffrey Skilling becomes CEO for a few months |
| 2002 | Lay resigns as Enron CEO, leaves board |
See also: Enron/Timeline.