Overview

Linda Phillips Herrold Lay is the widow of Enron Corporation founder and chairman Kenneth Lay. She became a figure of public scrutiny after it was revealed she sold roughly 500,000 shares of Enron stock ten to thirty minutes before news of Enron's imminent collapse was made public on November 28, 2001, timing that raised serious questions about whether she had advance knowledge of the company's deteriorating financial condition. Despite the suspicious timing of her stock sales, Linda Lay was never charged with any crime related to the Enron scandal. She appeared on NBC's Today show in January 2002 tearfully claiming the family was "fighting for liquidity" and that they were "basically wiped out." Investigators later revealed the Lays owned multiple luxury properties and Ken Lay had received $300 million in stock sales over the preceding years. After Kenneth Lay's conviction on all six counts of securities and wire fraud on May 25, 2006, and his death on July 5, 2006 (before sentencing), his convictions were vacated under the legal doctrine of abatement. Linda Lay fought to retain the family assets that the SEC and federal prosecutors were seeking to recover. The SEC had been pursuing more than $90 million from Kenneth Lay at the time of his death. Linda's non-prosecution, despite the timing of her stock sales, remains one of the more controversial aspects of the Enron case.

Key Affiliations

Controversies & Concerns

Related Investigations (1)

Known Associates & Connections

Sources & Documentation

2 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports