Enron Verdict: GUILTY

• Ken Lay, Former chairman and founder, 64: Guilty on six counts including conspiracy, wire fraud and securities fraud. Guilty on four counts in separate bank-fraud trial. Free until Sept. 11 sentencing. Faces maximum 165 years in prison.

• Jeffrey Skilling, Former CEO, 52: Guilty on 18 counts of conspiracy and fraud and one (of 10) counts of insider trading. Free until Sept. 11 sentencing. Faces maximum 185 years in prison.

Enron’s emblematic emasculation embodied the turn of the century corporation gone bad, and catapulted the field of socially responsible business onto the popular culture radar of America.

The larger danger lied in the loss of trust by average investors in the very system. An appeal is automatic. The grounds? Speculation centers on the aptly named concept of “Deliberate Indifference” -- a lower standard than affirmative knowledge (as it sounds).

The jury instructions are said to have been similar to those given in the trial of Enron's auditors, Arthur Andersen, which resulted in an overturned guilty verdict on appeal to the Supreme Court because they were vague and “flawed,” despite the disintegration of the firm by that point.

Appeal long enough and in addition to staying out of jail Lay and Skilling may become this year’s model of Frank Quattrone, the Credit Suisse First Boston technology banker who was accused of contributing to the late 90s burst of the tech bubble, but whose conviction on obstruction-of-justice charges related to a federal investigation of stock IPOs was overturned on appeal by a judge based on those pesky, nebulous jury instructions again.

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Meanwhile, the University of Missouri Kenneth L. Lay Chair in Economics remains vacant. “The University has advertised the economics chair nationally and has continued its search for an outstanding scholar to fill this position. The Lay Chair has not yet been filled.”