Ken Lay, Former Enron Chief, Compaq Director, Dies

various news outlets

Lay was awaiting sentence on his conviction for fraud and conspiracy in the matter of Enron's collapse.

A family spokesman confirmed to the media that the 64-year-old businessman had passed away while vacationing in Aspen, Colo.

Besides his well-documented reign at the now-bankrupt Enron, Lay also served on the board of Compaq Computer from 1987 until early this decade. He quit that board just before Hewlett-Packard completed its buyout of Compaq. That deal was officially completed in May of 2002 after a bitter proxy battle.

Both Enron and Compaq were based in Houston.

During his career, Lay was also a director for Eli Lilly, Questia, i2 Technologies, EOTT Energy and Azurix.