ENRON: Fall of the Mighty 53
Board members earned consulting fees while working on Enron projects. Moreover, they had
formed close personal relationships with Ken Lay, CEO of Enron. Board members owned signifi -
cant shares of Enron stock.
Complicated accounting and fi nance transactions required approval by external auditors and law-
yers before reaching the Board’s agenda which was not the case with Enron.
TOP EXECUTIVES AND THEIR ROLES
Kenneth Lay: Kenneth Lay was the fi rst CEO and later Chairman of Enron, who took charge soon after
the formation on Enron. He is a proponent of market deregulation and his close ties with the US govern-
ment (specially his ties with Bush family) helped in deregulating energy markets in the United States