Lay Readied His Lifeboat as the Water Rose

Re ‘Ken Lay: A Prisoner of His Own Success,’ Commentary, Feb. 18: Steven Berglas’ analysis of Ken Lay’s motivations is as flawed as his misuse of Freud’s famous cigar comment to justify it. If poor Lay was merely a victim of his own rose-colored glasses, why is it that he sold $100 million worth of his own Enron stock in 2001, including $16.3 million worth after Sherron Watkins’ warnings and before announcing to his employees that the company was in great shape? Mr. Berglas, sometimes a cigar is indeed just a cigar.

Alitta Kullman

Laguna Hills

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In saying that Lay ‘elect[ed] to stay the course’ far longer than he should have and that this was a normal ‘escalation of commitment’ on the part of an executive, Berglas fails to see that this is like saying that the captain of the Titanic stayed his course even when confronting the iceberg. Lay, seeing the ‘iceberg’ of collapse, prepared his own lifeboat by selling his stock while telling his ‘crew’ to stay the course.

Don Shulman

Los Angeles

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The question isn’t whether there are more Enrons out there. The true question now is, how can we trust the way businesses are run anymore? Big businesses aren’t run by people who care about employees. Rich execs line their pockets with cash but don’t do a damn thing to better the company or its staff. Execs have no problem firing employees while also collecting large bonuses or severance packages. Businesses that want my investment dollar are going to have to do a much better job running their companies.

Peter Bernhardt

Woodland Hills