Today, Bernard Ebbers will begin his 25-year sentence for the implosion of WorldCom. Based on federal sentencing rules, he will stay in prison at least until 2028. Given that Ebbers is 65, this is likely to be a life sentence.
Then again, Ebbers was at the helm of one of the biggest accounting fraud schemes, which has led to far-reaching regulations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley.
Ebbers will certainly have a lot of time to think about his misdeeds. But, we investors should also take some time to reflect. In other words, what can we learn from all this?
Let's look back at Ebbers' history. In fact, there is a new book, Business Fairy Tales, which has a comprehensive chapter on the WorldCom saga. The author is Cecil Jackson, a USC finance professor.
Actually, WorldCom started in the early 1980s with a good idea: With the break-up of AT&T, there was a huge opportunity for savvy companies to provide better long-distance phone services.
Ebbers realized that to succeed his company needed to quickly increase his customer base and build a scalable network. The fastest way to do this was to buy other companies. But, with little cash in the bank, what could he do?
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