Lay It on Thick: Enron Returns Reins to Longtime CEO

The old guard is back at Enron (ENE Quote).

Enron President and Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling resigned unexpectedly Tuesday, giving way to former CEO Kenneth Lay. Skilling, who took the CEO post from Lay only in February, said he was leaving for unspecified personal reasons.

People close to Enron say Skilling, 47, isn't resigning for health reasons and won't receive a severance package, although he will remain as a paid consultant. Enron didn't comment on whether health issues led Skilling to quit.

Skilling's tenure at the helm has been tumultuous. Many investors considered him brash, especially next to the mild-mannered Lay. When questioned by a short-seller about some accounting data on the company's first-quarter conference call, Skilling called the questioner an "a--hole."

Making a Skilling? Enron's steady slide over a year

...