Enron stockholders did not profit from anything unless they sold early. Phil Gramm's wife, for instance, was on the board and Enron, and now Gramm himself runs the energy trading division they wold to Warburg. The Gramms are in deep, but they actually lost money. The real victims though were the ones who listened to Lay and did not sell their stock in time, which means most employees and stockholders.
Lay is a crook and deserves to go to prison, but you can't fault other boards he served on, colleges and companies, for his crimes at Enron.
Lay was a very big powerhouse whom any board would have wanted, a cunning social magnate and the biggest Republican fundraising leader in the country with powerful ties to the White House, at least until 18 months ago or so. Only a real insider would have known what a crook he really was, in other words, someone high-up in the energy business, like Cheney, Gramm or James Baker. (in other words Bush)
It is embarrassing that Lay served on a Heinz Foundation board, but that's a non-profit institution and is not political. Amazing but true that Lay actually posed as an environmentalist and put money where his mouth was. So perhaps he did some good there.
If you've ever been on a board, you know members are elected for 1-5 years terms. That's probably why he lasted as long as he did, to keep from the messy business of dismissing him. He may also have had some allies on the Board who over-rode Theresa. As you know, the Heinz family are staunch Republicans. Also note Theresa Heinz was not the Chairman of the Board, but Vice Chairman. And that the Heinz institution has nothing directly to do with John Kerry. Just embarrassing, but no wrong-doing. And apparently public knowledge, so no secret. It was an official part of Ken Lay's bio. Strange yes, anything wrong, no. |
