Enron's Ken Lay Dies At 64

Enron Founder Was Awaiting Sentencing On Fraud And Conspiracy Charges

(CBS/AP)  But Enron collapsed after it was revealed the company's finances were based on a web of fraudulent partnerships and schemes, not the profits that it reported to investors and the public.

CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen says Lay "came into his criminal trial with a reputation for being a genial guy whose status at Enron put him above the corporate fraud there. But both of those impressions were shattered during the trial when he was feisty and combative on the witness stand and witnesses testified that he was quite involved in the daily business of the company."

Lay also sounded arrogant, defending his extravagant lifestyle, including a $200,000 yacht for wife Linda's birthday party, despite $100 million in personal debt and saying "it was difficult to turn off that lifestyle like a spigot."

A Houston lawyer said that Lay's death doesn't mean his family automatically gets to keep the millions of dollars he made from Enron.

Gerald Treece is a professor at the South Texas College of Law. He says it's "uncharted waters" as to whether the government will keep pursuing a more than $43 million judgment or stand back and let civil cases go forward.

Treece says Lay's widow and family are in "no better position" now than before Lay died. The lawyer says all of the assets are still vulnerable.

Both Lay and Skilling maintained that there had been no wrongdoing at Enron, and that the company had been brought down by negative publicity that undermined investors' confidence.

His defense didn't help his case with jurors.

"I wanted very badly to believe what they were saying," juror Wendy Vaughan said after the verdicts were announced. "There were places in the testimony I felt their character was questionable."

Lay was born in Tyrone, Mo. and spent his childhood helping his family make ends meet. His father ran a general store and sold stoves until he became a minister. Lay delivered newspapers and mowed lawns to pitch in. He attended the University of Missouri, found his calling in economics, and went to work at Exxon Mobil Corp. predecessor Humble Oil & Refining upon graduation.

He joined the Navy, served his time at the Pentagon, and then served as undersecretary for the Department of the Interior before he returned to business. He became an executive at Florida Gas, then Transco Energy in Houston, and later became CEO of Houston Natural Gas. In 1985, HNG merged with InterNorth in Omaha, Neb. to form Enron. Lay became chairman and CEO of the combined company the next year.