[vn-families] Suy nghie^.m tu+` cuo^.c ddo+`i, su+. nghie^.p cu?a o^ng Ken Lay (cu?a Enron)

[binhp at mylinuxisp.com]

Cha`o GDVN,

Mu.c ddi'ch cu?a ba`i na`y kho^ng pha?i la` no'i xa^'u
hoa(.c phe^ pha'n o^ng Ken Lay\.

Vi` o^ng Ken Lay la` 1 ngu+o+`i co^ng co^.ng (public
figure) cho ne^n mi`nh co' co+ ho^.i bie^'t nhie^`u ve^`
ddo+`i tu+ cu?a o^ng ta, va` ro^`i mi`nh nhi`n cuo^.c ddo+`i,
su+. nghie^.p cu?a o^ng ta tu+` nho? cho to+'i lu'c ma^'t dde^?
ma` suy nghie^.m ve^` nha^n qua? va` nghie^.p ba'o\.

Cha cu?a o^ng Ken Lay la` mu.c su+ Baptist, va` o^ng Ken Lay
la` ti'n ddo^` Baptist\. Co' le~ o^ng Ken Lay kho^ng bie^'t
(hoa(.c kho^ng tin) ve^` thuye^'t nha^n qua?, nghie^.p ba'o, ...
cu?a dda.o Pha^.t\.

Tuy va^.y, qua ba`i du+o+'i dda^y, qui' vi. se~ tha^'y cuo^.c
ddo+`i cu?a o^ng Ken Lay la` mo^.t chuo^~i nha^n qua?, nghie^.p
ba'o, nha^n duye^n cha^.p tru`ng\.

Cha`o

Pha.m Quo^'c Bi`nh


-------------------------------------------------------------
Source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4025339.html
July 5, 2006, 11:45AM

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

By MARK BABINECK

Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Enron Corp. founder Ken Lay, convicted this spring of scheming
to fraudulently elevate the company's share price in one of
the nation's most notorious corporate crime cases, died today
in Colorado of what associates said was a massive coronary. He
was 64.

According to authorities in Aspen, an ambulance was called to
Lay's home in nearby Old Snowmass at 2:41 a.m. Houston time. He
was pronounced dead at 4:11 a.m. at Aspen Valley Hospital, and
an autopsy report from the Pitkin County coroner is expected
later this week.

 Lay died unexpectedly during a week's stay in Colorado, Pastor
 Steve Wende of First United Methodist Church of Houston said
 in a statement after talking to Linda Lay.

"Apparently, his heart simply gave out,'' Wende said.

Lay and Jeff Skilling, the only two chief executives Enron had
before it filed for bankruptcy in December 2001, were convicted
May 25 of conspiracy and fraud. Prosecutors said they duped
investors about Enron's balance sheet and the very nature of
its business.

Jurors also convicted Skilling of insider trading and lying
to auditors, and U.S. District Judge Sim Lake convicted Lay of
bank fraud in a non-jury trial. Both men were bracing for long
federal prison sentences on Oct. 23, the date Lake set for a
punishment hearing.

The men unsuccessfully testified that Enron was an honest
company ruined by a market panic and the shenanigans of one
dishonest man, former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow. Lay
maintained a confident tone after the convictions.

"I firmly believe I'm innocent of the charges against me,''
Lay said outside the courthouse. "We believe God is in fact in
control and indeed he does work all things for good for those
who love the Lord.''

Both men were expected to receive lengthy prison sentences in
an Oct. 23 hearing before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake.

Lay created Enron from the 1985 merger of Nebraska-based
InterNorth and Houston Natural Gas. Once he brought Skilling
aboard, the pipeline company became active in the deregulating
natural gas and electricity markets and evolved into the nation's
energy trading powerhouse.

Using mark-to-market accounting, where the company booked
expected future revenues on its balance sheets, Enron had
vaulted to seventh place on the Fortune 500 in 2000 with $101
billion in revenue.

The collapse was swift after questions about Enron's bookkeeping
emerged in 2001. Lay was out by early 2002 and later charged
by federal prosecutors on the Justice Department's Enron Task
Force, although he repeatedly and vociferously defended both
himself and Enron in a variety of interviews and public forums.

Lay, the genial face of his company who was active in Houston's
philanthropic community and generally popular until Enron's
downfall, was expected to carry that persona into the federal
courthouse when the trial began in January. But he seemed grumpy
and combative for much of his time on the stand, even with his
own attorney.

"He was a people person,'' juror Freddy Delgado said about Lay
after the trial. ``He was banking on that, I guess, to get him
through the trial.''

Federal prosecutors also made sure the jury knew about the kind
of lifestyle Lay and his wife, Linda, maintained, including
frequent travel to luxurious ports of call and personal debt
that reached $100 million. It was that debt, illegally paid
down with Enron stock, that led to his bank fraud convictions.

While awaiting sentencing, Lay was confined generally to the
coastal Texas region including Houston except for the Aspen area,
where the couple had a home in Snowmass.

Pat Worcester, executive assistant to CEO at Aspen Valley
Hospital, said the hospital would release a statement
later. Skilling told The Associated Press that he was aware of
Lay's death, but declined further comment.

Prosecutors in Lay's trial declined comment today, both on
his unexpected death and what may become of the government's
effort to seek a $43.5 million judgment from Lay that they say
he pocketed as part of the conspiracy.

Born April 15, 1942, in Tyrone, Mo., Lay grew up as the son of
a Baptist minister who also sold farm equipment and worked at
a feed store.

In high school in Rush Hill, Mo., just outside Columbia, Lay
was a top student, sophomore class president, bass singer in the
madrigal choir and slide trombone player in the marching band.

He said small-town life never was for him.

"I spent a lot of time on a tractor and had a lot of time to
think,'' Lay said. "I must confess I was enamored with business
and industry. It was so different from the world in which I
was living.''

While attending the University of Missouri, Lay became interested
in Wall Street, monetary policy and international trade.

Earning a master's degree in economics in 1965, Lay accepted
a senior analyst job at Humble Oil in Houston, though he knew
nothing about energy or the Gulf Coast. There, and later at
Exxon, Lay was an economist in corporate planning.

At Hickman High School in Columbia, Mo., Lay accomplished quite
a bit for a new kid on the block, said Charley Blackmore, who
graduated from Hickman with Lay's sister, Sharon, three years
behind Ken.

Blackmore, on his alumni Web site, kewpie.net - named for the
school mascot - noted that Lay participated in band and several
singing groups, was elected to the National Honor Society,
was named homecoming chairman and received the American history
award. He graduated 10th in a class of 276.

At the University of Missouri, Lay joined the Beta Theta
Pi fraternity, known for attracting scholars and intramural
athletes. He became president as a junior, which was unusual.

In college, Lay formed the ideals and principles he would use
to achieve the wealth and power he dreamed of. "He took every
course I taught," said Pinkney Walker, a former professor
of economics. "He understood that an unregulated market with
free choice, where market forces can work, will create greater
incentives and maximize the well-being of many."

Lays upbringing ingrained in him a drive to rise above his
beginnings, Walker said, but it was his brilliance that made
him stand out.

After Lay received his bachelor's degree, Walker asked what he
planned to do next. "He told me, `I've got to get out of here
and make some money,' " Walker said.

Walker persuaded him to stay on and earn a master's
degree, finagling enough of a salary to make him a teaching
assistant. When he earned the master's, Walker asked his plans
again: "Again he told me, `I've got to get out and make money.' "

Lay took a job in Houston in 1965 as a senior economist at Exxon
predecessor Humble Oil, a company of international reach with
ties to government and lots of promise.

In the early 1970s Lay was in the Navy, applying his economics
knowledge at the Pentagon for Adm. George Kinner Jr., who later
served with Lay on the board of Compaq Computer Corp.

Lay told the Chronicle his service in Washington gave him an
appreciation of how the public sector worked. In his days with
Enron, Lay - and his money - were well-known in government
circles, as was his active crusading for open energy markets.

"Their local news is national news," Lay said. "The whole world
centers around what goes on in that city. I was impressed."

The Associated Press contributed to this report