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Kenneth Lay

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

1965Economist, Exxon Corporation
1969Assistant professor, George Washington University
1971Assistant to a commissioner, Federal Power Commission
1972Undersecretary for energy issues, Department of the Interior
1974Vice president, Florida Gas
1976President, Florida Gas
1979Executive vice president, The Continental Group
1981President, chief operating officer, Transco
1984Chief executive officer, Houston Natural Gas
1985Enron formed by merger of Houston Natural Gas and Internorth
1990Chairman of the board and chief executive officer, Enron co-chairman, organizing committee for G-7 summit
1992Co-chairman, President Bush Re-election Committee chairman, Republican National Convention, Houston
1992Assists with campaign of Sheila Jackson-Lee to defeat Congressman Craig Washington
1994Lay becomes CEO of Enron and is involved with the creation of various techniques for manipulating the energy system
2001Jeffrey Skilling becomes CEO of Enron for a few months
2002Amid extreme pressure, Lay resigns as Enron CEO, leaves board

See also: Timeline of the Enron scandal.

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