Ken Lay, Former Enron Chief, Compaq Director, Dies

Ken Lay, the Enron chairman who led the company to fame then ruin, died of an apparent heart attack, various news outlets reported Wednesday morning.

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.