Many former friends of Enron founder Kenneth Lay refused to comment on his death on Wednesday as they sought to distance themselves from a man convicted of one of the largest corporate frauds in United States history.
A prominent Republican party fund raiser, Lay golfed with presidents and was hailed as a business visionary and generous philanthropist prior to Enron’s spectacular meltdown.
While his name still graces some buildings in Houston, Texas, his death was greeted with a resounding silence by the mayor’s office. Several industry and charitable associations for which he once served as a board member declined to comment.
President George Bush — who once reportedly called him ”Kenny boy” — had few kind words for Lay.
”The president had described Ken Lay as an acquaintance. And many of the president’s acquaintances have died during his time in office,” said White House spokesperson Tony Snow, who would not say how the US president reacted to the passing of Lay (64).
Some former employees, however, were sympathetic. The first reaction of Robert Bradley, who had frequent contact with Lay as a public policy analyst at Enron before it collapsed, was that it was ”ironic” in terms of the timing and that he was
shocked his former boss died because ”he watched his diet closely and exercised”.
Asked if he felt any emotion, he told Agence France-Presse, ”Yeah, anyone gets affected when someone they know personally dies.”
More sentimental was Lay’s pastor, Steve Wende of First Methodist Houston, who said in a telephone interview that ”people will miss his leadership and insight”, although he acknowledged that Lay had ”slipped out of his leadership roles when he was indicted a year ago”.
The church was one of the only institutions to issue a public statement, in which Wende called the Lays ”friends” and said: ”We grieve with Linda and the family in the loss of husband and father, and our congregation mourns the loss of a dynamic man who did not hesitate to espouse his faith in God.”
CC Conner, managing director of the Houston Ballet, which received tens of thousands from Lay and hundreds of thousands from Enron in the five years prior to the company’s bankruptcy in 2001, said, ”We felt the loss of Ken Lay way back when Enron went down.”
Peter Marzio, director of the Museum of Fine Arts-Houston, which also lost significant funding when Enron collapsed, expressed sadness.
”Although I respect the jury’s decision, there is this disconnect between the verdict and the person I knew. He always seemed decent and generous,” said Marzio. ”Evil is a funny thing, whether he created it or it was inflicted on him, it killed him and
it’s tragic.”
Harsher words were heard on talk radio and seen on internet blogs where people floated conspiracy theories that Lay had faked his death or killed himself to avoid jail time. – Sapa-AFP