Kenneth Lay, 2002 News

executive, resigned as chief executive and chairman of Enron, the beleaguered energy trading company that filed for bankruptcy in Dec. 2001. It was the largest such claim in U.S. history, resulting in the loss of about 5,000 jobs and leaving thousands of people financially ruined. Enron's downfall uncovered a flurry of scandals, including questionable accounting practices by Enron to hide losses and massive document-shredding by both Enron and its auditor, Arthur Andersen.