Ken Lay, R.I.P.

I was never much of a fan of Ken Lay... to the contrary, I was disappointed and shocked that a man who had contributed so much to the community would preside over such an (ultimately) immoral and egregious organizational collapse.

Nevertheless, I was a little bit shocked and saddened to read this via the Houston Chronicle:

ENRON'S KEN LAY DIES: 'HIS HEART SIMPLY GAVE OUT'

"Convicted Enron Corp. founder Ken Lay suffered a massive coronary Tuesday and died, according to Dr. Steve Wende, of First Methodist Houston. He was 64."

A more detailed bio/obit can be found here.

He was in Colorado awaiting sentencing when he died. Thus, despite being found guilty on all six counts that related to Enron fraud -- including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, perpetrating wire and bank fraud, and making false and misleading statements to employees at a company meeting, as well as to banks, securities analysts and corporate credit-rating agencies -- Mr. Lay never served a day in jail for those crimes.

By passing on July 4th, Ken Lay joins such other notable Americans as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe. Granted, he did not contribute as greatly to the American experiment as these men, but he will certainly go down in history -- unfortunately not as the corporate giant he once was, but as an icon of corporate greed, manipulation and excess.

R.I.P., Mr. Lay. May the Lord have mercy on your soul.