Kenney Boy was a bad boy,

Isn't it just like Republicluck - take the easy way out.

How do we know that Lay really died. death has been faked for a lot less money than we are talking about with regard to Lay. Maybe that was his last swindle.

I still hold 6000 worthless shares of ENRON because Ken Lay publically said in 2001 that the company was still fundamentally sound and the worst was behind us. Lately I was hoping that Ken would spend about 20 years in jail with perhaps a cellmate named Spike. Now I'll have to settle for knowing that as of today Ken will be spending all the rest of eternity with Satan in a much hotter place than Houston.

I hope somebody checks the casket to be certain there's really a body in it.

Convicted in Houston but vacationing in Aspen...

Is anyone mad that our laws DO NOT penalize white collar criminals.

If the media doesn't thoroughly investigate this "death," all journalists should hand in their credentials.

Dear Former ENRON Employee:

Interesting that you think someone should rot in hell or be terrorized in prison because you lost some money.

I have gained and lost thousands of dollars in stocks and not blamed anyone. Risk is what you take on when you invest. By the way, while your next letter will tell me you lost $300000 (at the stocks highest price) I will anticipate it by asking how much you paid for them. The stock was up exponentially and my guess is your actual 'loss' was not much.

I'll bet Bush attends his funeral despite the fact he's yet to go one of a fallen soldier.

Good career move.

The only thing that we leave this world with is our good name. In Kenny Boy's case, he didn't even get to take that with him.If he is buried in Aspen, Colorado, you can find his grave by looking for the one in the cemetery with yellow snow over it.

It's pathetic to see people like Lay use religion and "God's Will" excuses for their dirty deeds..now it's time to "pay the piper"..wonder what he's saying now??

Today on the radio a commentator asked if Ken Lay's death would change our attitude toward him. I ask WHY would that make him any less guilty?!! Life has a way of catching up with us.

Once again Ken Lay has gotten away. Death -vs- 20+ years in jail. He deserved jail. From what I have read, the governmnet can't get his money, either His family may walk away with the spoils. Justice was not done. He deserved to die in jail.

Well at least the tax-payers of the good old U.S.A. won't have to pay his hotel bill for the next 30 years.

It's too bad that those whose money was stolen from this man couldn't get together in some type of class
action suit & get a levy against his estate. Probably small token, but would be justification.

This seems just too convenient...

All of you are very sick people. Everyone loved him when he was making money for them. You are sick, sick people.

For those of you screaming about the injustice done to you as you lost your stock value in Enron, should I demand that you return ANY investment gains that you made in ANY other stock?
Equity investment is a judgemental call. Do a stop-loss if you are truly concerned. Stop blame the world and look into yourself. Ken Lay probably was a terrible, amoral man -- but I don't even see the level of hatred toward Bin Laden as show by some Americans toward Lay. Shame on you...look into your own soul.

Rest in hell white collar trash. The Enron scam cost all Americans money, not just their stockholders.

Interesting comments. I'd never considered the faked death angle. My first thought when I saw the headline that he'd died, though, was that he'd killed himself.

Mr. Ting:

I don't know what circles you run in but every American man I know given the physical ability to do so - would strangle bin Laden's head right off his shoulders.

It all comes down to "he got away with it".
Maybe all the people that lost their life savings can do what the Italian Partisans did to Benito Mussolini and hang his body upside down in the gutter and then let it rot. Just a little satisfaction to ease the pain.

Mr. Lay finished
his earthly journey today,
and his soul now travels back
to His Creator and Lord.
We all hope to find Mercy
at our journey's end,
and we hope that Mercy will find us
if ever we should become lost
along the way.

I don't believe he died. I wonder what country he'll be living in.

LAY GOT OFF EASY. he only had to die one time, the people that are paying for his lies die everyday. Each time they think about how the hell they will retire. The fact is they can't retire, these are the people who are suffering for Mr.Lays and his associates bad deeds. Enron and Mr.Lays deeds are outlined in text books that are issued to new students coming into college that are majoring in business. The areas that list his unetheical practices are listed in the what not to do section. I see a few of you guys are telling folks the should be ashamed of themselves for saying negative thinks about Mr.Lay. Ken Lay lied and falsified docs that ruined peoples lives, cost them there marriages, there kids can no longer go to college, Peoples homes went to foreclosure. For those of you who say Lay was a good business man and are protecting his name now I ask you how much money were you able to put away because of Enron and Mr.Lays lies? Do you think Mr. lay is answering for his deeds right now?

Hey Marshall the real sicko here is you!!!!! This guy ruined thousands upon thousands of lives, the only people he was making money for was his friends and himself! No one loved him! You may have, sounds like you still do. Do us all a favor and sit down and talk to some former Enron employees, then you'll really figure out how sick we really are!

This guy got off easy, he was supposed to rot in jail for years.

And William Ting, are you Marshall's buddy? What you're asking people to do is something Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling never did while they were raping their own company and compounding lie after lie. Ofcourse investing in stocks is risky! Why don't you state the obvious... But when a comany lies for years and fudges their books so much that the entire company goes down in flames, and we're not taling some rinky dink start-up, this was one of the TOP 10 largest companies in the US! well you're going to see some hatred being thrown around considering how many people's lives were completly ruined.

Ken Lay's legacy is the important questions he leaves us: the role of the CEO -- is he responsible for all that happens on his watch? Our justice system -- was it fair use CFO Fastow (who was probably closer to the numbers manipulations) as a witness against his bosses in exchange for a lighter sentence? And lastly, at what point does the American dream (and Lay's was certainly a rags to riches story) become a nightmare?

The entire "Family Fortune" should be distributed to the employees and retirees that lost everything.

The entire "Family Fortune" should be distributed to the employees and retirees that lost everything.

The man had NO Christian values, he took money from people that worked for him, I think of people that are in their 60's and can not make ends meet because of this crook. He is in HELL and I hope he BURNS there forever.

if lay is really gone ? cant he take his and gw s policies with him? i want my country back.....

Ken Lay didn't kill anyone (like Osama), but he helped to kill the financial future of thousands of people through flat-out lying while staying rich himself. This is why he's so hated. This impacts many more people in their day-to-day lives than Osama. I'm not saying he's worse than Osama. Simply, this is why he's hated and loathed. If investments don't make money, it should be because of a true fluctuation of the market along with a good faith effort of corporations to truthfully disclose their financial health. Without the proper rules, you have the poor losing money unfairly AGAIN (that's right, look at the stock market history before the Great Depression to see that this scam is nothing new).

He represents those who wish to keep the status quo - the elite becoming richer by making the rules consequently keeping the working drones out of the information loop and poor. Fittingly, he was vacationing in Aspen after his conviction.

It also does not surprise me that he was a close friend of Bush. You can tell much about a person by the friends they keep. Ken Lay will be missed by some and dismissed by many, many more.

I choose not to hate a person who makes errors in judgment. It is the way we all learn. He will now have the opportunity to rest and rethink his harm done and emerge a better, morally stronger business leader in the future. He did good things; he did terrible things. So do we all. May the peace of the afterlife be with you Ken Lay.

Ken Lay was a brillant visionary who saw the benefits of deregulating energy markets. Most of the people who villify him in this forum have no idea what role he played in the Enron scandal ot the true nature of what happened at Enron. The true villians were Andrew Fastow (CFO) and his staff who engineered accounting transactions that followed the letter (not the spirit of the law) in most cases that distorted the tue economic substance of the company. Equally to blame were the Investment Adivisors on Wall Street who succummed to the greed of investment banking fees and incessantly cheered the company with strong "buy" ratings, the auditor (Andersen) who succummed to the greed of huge consulting fees and the board that did not have the financial acumen to question the earnings and controls. Employees who invested all of their retirement stock (despite warinings by almost every financial advisor to diversify one's holdings) should also bear some responsibility. Lay is guilty of not hiring more ethical people around him, but he was a decent man and has been unjustly villified by an over zealous prosectutor looking for headlines. He is less guilty than any of the above.

Ken Lay was a brillant visionary who saw the benefits of deregulating energy markets. Most of the people who villify him in this forum have no idea what role he played in the Enron scandal ot the true nature of what happened at Enron. The true villians were Andrew Fastow (CFO) and his staff who engineered accounting transactions that followed the letter (not the spirit of the law) in most cases that distorted the tue economic substance of the company. Equally to blame were the Investment Adivisors on Wall Street who succummed to the greed of investment banking fees and incessantly cheered the company with strong "buy" ratings, the auditor (Andersen) who succummed to the greed of huge consulting fees and the board that did not have the financial acumen to question the earnings and controls. Employees who invested all of their retirement stock (despite warinings by almost every financial advisor to diversify one's holdings) should also bear some responsibility. Lay is guilty of not hiring more ethical people around him, but he was a decent man and has been unjustly villified by an over zealous prosectutor looking for headlines. He is less guilty than any of the above.

He should not be judged by us in the materialised world, so he left. He symbolized an era, good or bad... might be clarified when all of us passed away, when we were referred to as a history. We gamble on horse racing, if we lose, we sware. We invest in shares, if we lose, we sue, we put someone behind the bars... If being greedy is a crime, then how to assess? How many of us going to be sentenced on the judgement day? Lay, may your soul in peace...

I'm not normally Paranoid Skeptifrenic, but even I wondered for a moment if this was just a tad too conveinent.

What was just as interesting was how quickly the media jumped off of this for the Daily Inanity known as the White House Press Briefing, and the North Korea issue, which has been going on for, oh,... DECADES.

If anyone believes that any press outlet will investigate the Lay issue... I've got some great corporate stock I'd love to sell you...

LET HE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN THROW THE FIRST STONE. ONLY GOD'S JUDGEMENT MATTERS--NOT OURS. SIN DOESN'T COME IN SMALL, MEDIUM, AND LARGE SIZES. LAY'S SINS WERE VERY LARGE, BUT SO ARE OURS. THAT MOTORIST WHO CUT IN FRONT OF YOU, OR THE COACH WHO TOOK YOUR SON OUT OF THE GAME....OR PERHAPS,THE NEIGHBOR WHO WON'T CUT THE GRASS----ALL BRING UGLY THOUGHTS OR WORDS TO THE SURFACE. IF GOD'S WORD SAYS BE, DO, SAY, THINK, LOVE---WHATEVER, AND, WE DON'T, OUR SIN IS AS GREAT AS LAY'S. AND IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD, THAT'S OK--HE LOVES, FORGIVES AND BELIEVES IN YOU, AND LAY, TOO. IF HE ASKED FOR IT (FORGIVENESS, THAT IS) GOD GAVE IT TO HIM. HELL IS FOR THOSE WHO DON'T ASK-----HAVE YOU?

People in glass houses....

I hope that if there is a body in the casket, some independent lab does DNA testing.

If Ken Lay had told you that his stock was a lousy investment and don't invest in it, Enron would have sued by every 'slip and fall' lawyer out there.

More equity has been lost in the Fannie Mae scandal. But that one benefited Democrats. We don't need to examine that more closely.

Frankly, I feel the Tribune Co. is the most disgusting and unethical of all these entities we are speaking of now, because they--over and over again--published all of these "Gosh, isn't poor Jeff Skilling, brother of our beloved Tom, just the neatest guy, and isn't it sad he's on trial for things he didn't do?"

Well, Jeff Skilling is scum, and you folks are double scum for trying that lame PR campaign on us. Did you NOT see "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room?" Did you not see the ego, arrogance, and smarm of Skilling? Hell-ooo!!!

Anyhoooooooooo...yes, "Kenny-Boy" did get off easy. I do mourn for his family, for no one should lose a loved one suddenly, but I mourn far more for the 40,000 employees of Enron who were ruined by Lay's and Skilling's greed and totally unethical, virtually sociopathic hubris.

Let his "God" judge him now. And let us have at Skilling, now that he's the only one left.

Not so smart now, are they?

Lay ran out of hope.

Money is not everything.

Former Enron Employee, What did you expect him to say? Hey everyone, sell the stock! Especially you, former enron employee, who holds 6000 shares.

Wow, you mean there is a risk to this whole investing thing?

How ironic that we are a nation built on the belief of God and yet we can be so unforgiving.I guess it's a good thing Jesus Christ wasn't an American or 90% of us would burn in hell.I understand many of you lost everything,so what it was only material.Those of you filled with so much hate,did you ever ask God to forgive Lay?Sorry,he died and you didn't get your revenge.You can be PO'd and the hate can consume you or just get over it.

No one has mentioned that, in addition to the retirements that were ruined, Enron's blatant, monopolistic manipulation of energy prices nearly bankrupted several state economies, most notably that of California. The extent of the damage these criminals did is hard to fully comprehend.

I don't presume to judge another man's soul, but to excuse the unmitigated greed and the deliberate lies which resulted in the financial ruin of thousands as "business as usual" exemplifies the worst in our system.
Corporations are not charities. They exist to make a profit. But when CEO's, CFOs, top executives and audit firms conspire to create what was essentially a pyramid scheme, they threaten the very foundation of our capitalistic system. If prison sentences reflected actual damage done, these guys would all be spending a lot more years in jail than any common identity thief and their families would not benefit in any way from their crimes.

Ken Lay is the posterchild of how the current breed of Christian, Corporate, Republicans are neither Republican or Christian.
Lay and his buddies (including Bush) practice economics that are anything but conservative. If the Democrats tax and spend, these Republicans borrow and spend. So in a sense, they're taxing our children, the height of cowardess.
These people also defile Christianity, with their greed and disregard for people's lives.

he was a good man . i knew him.

What seems so unfair is that now that he has died, the 43.5 million he owed, due to the ruling last Friday, will likely never have to be paid. Would you die to guarantee your family 43 million dollars?

I think it's important in the world today, to sincerely review our own hearts and behavioral nunaces. While I agree it was wrong what he did, and thousands of people were indeed harmed and will struggle for quite some time, the bible tells us to forgive. Life without "forgiveness" is a failed life, achieving nothing more than a heart of stone. Seek first to understand, and after to be undstood!
I for give you Mr. Lay! Rest in Peace and peace with your family whom you've left behind.
Rone de Beauvoir
Author: It's Only Dinner "dining for love romance a& relationships"

Ken Lay we hope you told the truth despite all the charges. Only God will know for sure.
Rest for now.

... and I have a bridge to sell ya !...

oh my God -- we killed Kenny! You bastard!

I wholeheartedly agree with those who believe the chairman's grave should be opened to ensure that the proper contents have been filed. But why stop there... it is my belief that the former CEO of Enron deserves a more noteworthy and prolonged extension of his sentence. His remains should be ritually desecrated by officials from the SEC to mark the beginning of each financial quarter, as a warning to all other corporate executives that Even Really BIG Crime Does Not Pay.

The other 361 days, we'll just let it be an open cesspit for the widows and retirees. They deserve to have some satisfaction in the process, and at long last Mr. Lay can claim to have no knowledge of what's going on.

As an long term investor in Enron, I lost thousands of dollars in that company and I am still feeling the reverbrations in my portfolio.
I am angry, very angry, that Ken Lay had died and has not spent one day behind bars for his misdeeds and corruptions in his company. A member of his own board of directors stated that Ken Lay used Enron as his own personal piggy bank. That man, was a real PIG living high on the hog, while the rest of us poor stuckholders slobbered up his muck and slop, as he lived in his grandeur mansions and vacation homes and traveled the globe partying with his spoiled wife, Linda, all at our expense. May he truely freezeburn in hell with the rest of the coporate swine that fleeced stockholders of their money!!!

Ken may be dead, maybe alive.. who cares.. Do you people really think he was going to jail.. I ask this who's going to jail for the $350,000,000,000.00 B/S smoke job to the people and the 5,000 - 8,000 dead, and approx 18,000 wounded,
Oh yes, did any one ask if (1) wouned in Iraq, MedV. out and dies 2 days later .. how is that counted..
Now who's going to find out if the death was a cover up. Ken may not of killed anyone, I'm sure a few took there lives after the fall of Enron, may people put the life savings in hopes to retire rich.. Bad gamble.. you might ask were did all the money go, were, who, what pockets did it stay in..
All Ken Lay did was use the system they way it was set up.Corp get away with almost anything.. money & power..
Whats the old saying " if it sounds to good to be true " it ain't. For the Bible thumpers, you people have got to get a new weege board.. Just my opinion, Semper Fi,

FOR NOW KEN LAY ONLY HAS GOD TO ANSNWER TO,
DON'T SPEAK TOO FAST ,DON'T HATE TOO SOON.
YES HE HAS DESROYED MANY MANY LIVES,THAT CAN NEVER BE REBUILT BUT HATE IS SUCH A STRONG WORD HE HAS PASSED WITH AND HAS TO DEAL WITH FATE,
LET THE MAN REST WHERE EVER IT MIGHT BE ,
NOTHING YOU CAN SAY OR DO WILL CHANGE WHAT HAS HAPPENED , SAY A PRAYER INSTEAD FOR THE POOR SOUL THAT EVERY ONE TRUSTED,

Lay died probably because he knew he wouldn't be able to take prison life; but he's still a miserable rat...what work could he have done to make 352 million dollars in one year? Now, if Skilling takes a dive too, we won't have to paid his prison bill, how neat!

The talk show in the morning called "Today" is having a special on Kenneth Lay's assets and interviews with former Enron employees. Should be an interesting show for all.

Barbara
Round Rock, Texas

I am one who did not love him when he was making money. I have been fighting this battle for 14 years now, Corporate corruption at the top. The fall of both Enron and World COM was obvious. Lay was considered a leader on the economic front who brought a lot of people down with him. Time to get back to some basics and rebuild, it is the only thing left to do.

What if he was innocent? EITHER WAY, he did make peace with GOD AND WHO are we to want to send him to hell.Forgive the man and let it go.It hurts me to hear so much hatered coming from my country men.

Yes, any investment is risky. But with most investments, the investor has the option to sell the investment if it starts to tank. One of the biggest problems with Enron was that employees and other investors were locked in and were helpless to do anything besides watch it tank. And if I recall correctly, stocks and stock options were a significant part of employee compensation at Enron, so employees had little or no choice of investing in the company.

marilyn Gaudry, I hope you're opposed to the death penalty. Mr. Lay had the benefit of an extremely long and detailed trial defended by some of the best defense lawyers in the country, yet the jury still found him guilty on all counts. The chance that he is innocent is a lot slimmer than the chance that some destitute capital murder defendant whose public defender slept through his trial is innocent.

..anyone ever hear of Global Crossing?

Hmmmmmm

I DO NOT agree with Steve at all on this one, what big company does not know what the other departments and accounting firms are doing? No, that is a EXCUSE, not a REASON for the DOWNFALL of ENRON.

Barbara

I've been reading some posts and articles claiming that the angry response to the news of Ken Lay's death makes people seem like savages, and that we should all take the high road and forgive. The bottom line is that Ken Lay did a lot of horrible things to a lot of people. His death doesn't just erase that. I don't wish death on anyone, and I believe in forgiveness, but forgiveness doesn't mean that you forget all of the bad things someone has done. If someone robbed a bank at gunpoint and died before he was sentenced, does he all of a sudden gain respect from society? Should his victims start praising him in magazine articles and newspapers? "Well, I'm sure he was a nice guy, and I know he didn't really mean it when he threatened to blow my head off." There has to be justice in this world. There are people that are going to suffer years from now because of what Ken Lay did. His death is some form of payment, but that doesn't make all of the suffering he caused just disappear into thin air. HE ruined his own reputation by his savage, selfish, and cowardly actions, and the people he hurt shouldn't have to stop criticizing him or being angry just because he died.

Oh, for crying out loud. Everyone is yapping about how bad of a person lay was. How many lives "he" ruined. We as a society need to butch up a little. Yes he did made some really bad decisions about his life with little regard to the others that it may affect, but haven't we all. I'm not condoning his actions but let's face it we all make our own choices and to sit here and gripe about everything in such a negative way is typical. Let me ask everyone this. Have you not lied, cheated on your spouse, stole something as simple as a piece of gum from the grocery store? Well let me tell you something, those are the same choices kenneth lay made. Bad ones. Help someone change a tire on the road if you want to do something.... or do you not want to get your hands dirty?

What about the Texas taxpayers like me??? I am not footing his bill, his family needs to do the respectable thing. Jeffrey Skilling needs to too. Just my opinion. Are you going to pay the bill for his messups, Amy?

Barbara

Barbara

No, Timothy, I have not stolen a piece of gum from the grocery store, lied to my spouse, or cheated on my spouse---I have been married for 25 years in September 2006. Sounds like you have NO MORTALS IN MY BOOK. How sad...

Hello,

I just heard on Today with Matt Lauer and Ann Curry that Lay is going to be scott free when it comes to this Enron Downfall. Now, it is up to Jeffrey Skilling...what do you all think about that? Lay had 43 million in fines and now he pays zippo, his family does not have to pay, either. It is like God just forgave him. How unfair is this? They also dismissed all lawsuits against Lay. It sounds like EX-Enron Employees were taken for a ride. How sad...this world is so corrupt...No Christian Values at all.