Enron's Chairman and CEO, Kenneth L. Lay, Resigns

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, January 24, 2002

Enron's Chairman and CEO, Kenneth L. Lay, Resigns

Kenneth L. Lay, the embattled chairman and chief executive officer of Enron Corp., resigned Wednesday night from the bankrupt energy company but will remain on the company's board.

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Kenneth L. Lay, the embattled chairman and chief executive officer of Enron Corp., resigned Wednesday night from the bankrupt energy company but will remain on the company's board.

Lay, 59, transformed Enron from a regional pipeline company into one of the world's largest energy-trading firms. But in recent weeks, Lay has been blamed for much of what went wrong at Enron.

"I want to see Enron survive, and for that to happen we need someone at the helm who can focus 100 percent of his efforts on reorganizing the company and preserving value for our creditors and hard-working employees," Lay said Wednesday night in a statement released by Enron.

Lay said the many inquiries and investigations into Enron's activities take up too much of his time and make it more difficult for him to concentrate fully on what is most important to Enron's stakeholders.

Lay took over as chief executive officer at Enron in February 1986, seven months after it was formed by the merger of Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth Inc.

Just months ago, Enron was the country's seventh biggest company in revenue. But investors and traders alike evaporated amid revelations of questionable partnerships that helped keep billions of dollars in debt off its books and the company's acknowledgment that it overstated profits for four years.

The company filed for bankruptcy in December, leaving thousands of employees out of work and stripping much of their retirement savings after Enron temporarily barred them from selling company stock from their Enron-dominated 401(k) accounts.

Investors around the country were burned. Bitter employees were given only minutes to clear out their desks.

In inquiries with both financial and political overtones, 11 House and Senate committees are investigating Enron, while the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission pursue their own less-visible probes.

Lay is expected to testify before two congressional committees on Feb. 4.

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