WorldCom — Museum of the Fallen

The Obituary

WorldCom grew from a small Mississippi long-distance reseller founded in 1983 into America’s second-largest long-distance carrier, assembled through a frenzy of acquisitions including the $37 billion purchase of MCI. To sustain the appearance of growth, executives improperly booked ordinary expenses as capital investments, overstating profits by roughly $11 billion. When the fraud surfaced in 2002, WorldCom filed for bankruptcy with about $107 billion in assets — the largest U.S. filing to that point. CEO Bernard Ebbers got 25 years. The surviving network became MCI and was absorbed by Verizon in 2006.

Worth remembering

Its $11 billion accounting fraud made it the largest U.S. bankruptcy ever filed at the time, surpassing Enron.
CEO Bernard Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years; the surviving business became MCI and was bought by Verizon in 2006.

Watch

Former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers seeks early release — CNBC Television

Sources

WorldCom filed the then-largest U.S. bankruptcy in 2002 after an accounting fraud overstating earnings by about $11 billion Wikipedia
CEO Bernard Ebbers was convicted of fraud in 2005; the company emerged as MCI and was later acquired by Verizon Wikipedia
WorldCom, built by Bernard Ebbers through dozens of acquisitions into the second-largest U.S. long-distance carrier, filed the then-largest U.S. bankruptcy in July 2002 after an accounting fraud of roughly $11 billion; Ebbers was later sentenced to 25 years. Encyclopaedia Britannica

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