Enron Was A Parody Of Itself

Here's where CEO Ken Lay ate before he died

“Well, uh … Thank you very much. We appreciate it … Asshole.” Enron’s Jeffrey Skilling answering an analyst’s question in 2001.

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Former Enron Chairman and CEO Ken Lay ate one of his last meals at the divey Woody Creek Tavern in Aspen, Colo.

He was awaiting a long prison sentence on fraud and conspiracy charges, so what did he do? He jetted off to a mountainous playground for the uber class and had a fatal heart attack there on July 5, 2006.

The good news for Lay was that his conviction was thrown out on the technicality that dead men can't appeal. This goes to show – for all you white-collar convicts out there – that a snowball's chance in hell is still a chance.

Woody Creek had set up a legal defense fund for Lay that proved woefully insufficient. It was a jar atop the bar. Patrons donated small change and whatever else was in their pockets: condoms, toothpicks, rubber bands, screws, dog biscuits, a pacifier, a firearm cartridge, a toy figurine with broken legs. Others wrote IOUs.

"He came in and got it," waitress Dianne Redfern told me in 2007. "He was polite about it."

Besides Ken Lay, the Woody Creek Tavern was the renowned haunt of legendary gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, singer-songwriter John Denver, "60 Minutes" reporter Ed Bradley, TV star Don Johnson, singer John Oates and Jimmy Ibbotson of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. (Photo Credit: Al Lewis, 2007.)

We can’t resurrect poor Ken Lay, but on Monday someone began trying to resurrect the notorious conglomerate he created.

Check out Enron.com, which launched on the 23rd anniversary of the energy giant’s bankruptcy filing.

It’s a parody website that immediately scored a fire hose of press. It includes a satirical marketing video, a press release and a countdown clock to “something very special to introduce.” … Hype. Hype.

Enron really only lives on in our tortured imaginations. Its assets were sold off in pieces. Some guy bought its trademark for $275 in 2020 and now has some cryptic, and perhaps hilarious, plans to use it.

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