Associated Press
HOUSTON — Kenneth Lay, the embattled chairman and chief executive officer of Enron Corp., is resigning from the bankrupt energy company.
"This was a decision the board and I reached in cooperation with our creditors’ committee," Lay said in a statement released Wednesday night by Enron. "I want to see Enron survive, and for that to happen we need someone at the helm who can focus 100 percent of his efforts on reorganizing the company and preserving value for our creditors and hard-working employees."
Lay said the many inquiries and investigations into Enron’s activities take up too much of his time and make it more difficult for him to concentrate fully on what is most important to Enron’s stakeholders.
Enron said its board, working with the creditor’s committee on Enron’s bankruptcy, is selecting a restructuring specialist to join Enron to help with its efforts to emerge from bankruptcy.
The specialist will serve as acting chief executive officer.
Just months ago, Enron was the country’s seventh-biggest company in revenue. But investors and traders alike evaporated amid revelations of questionable partnerships that helped keep billions of dollars in debt off its books and the company’s acknowledgment that it overstated profits for four years.
The company filed for bankruptcy in December, leaving thousands of employees out of work and stripping much of their retirement savings after Enron temporarily barred them from selling company stock from their Enron-dominated 401(k) accounts.
Investors around the country were burned.
In inquiries with both financial and political overtones, 11 House and Senate committees are investigating Enron, while the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission pursue their own less visible probes.
Lay is expected to testify before two congressional committees on Feb. 4.
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