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Founders, Executives and Management Thinkers

Bernard Ebbers

Founder and Executive

Canadian-American businessman who co-founded the long-distance telephone reseller that became WorldCom, serving as its chief executive from 1985 until his forced resignation in April 2002. He was convicted in March 2005 of fraud, conspiracy and filing false regulatory documents for directing WorldCom's accounting scandal, then the largest corporate accounting fraud in U.S. history. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Birth Date
1941-08-27 1
Birth Year
1941 1
Death Date
2020-02-02 1
Death Year
2020 1
Birthplace
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 1
Nationality
Canadian-American 1
Defining Contribution
Co-founded and led WorldCom through rapid acquisition-driven growth, including the mergers with MFS Communications and MCI Communications, before the company collapsed in 2002 amid an accounting fraud scandal for which Ebbers was convicted. 1
Notable Work
WorldCom 1
Connections

Associated With

Accounting, Practice Disciplines

As WorldCom's chief executive, Bernard Ebbers directed the accounting fraud that improperly capitalized billions of dollars in operating expenses, and was convicted in 2005 for his role.

Source Wikipedia, Bernard Ebbers

Ebbers built WorldCom into one of the largest long distance telecommunications carriers in the United States before its 2002 accounting fraud collapse.

Source Bernard Ebbers (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia, Bernard Ebbers

Companies Founded

Source Wikipedia, Bernard Ebbers

Companies Led

Chief executive from the company's founding (as Long Distance Discount Services, renamed WorldCom in 1995) until his forced resignation in April 2002, amid the accounting scandal that led to his March 2005 conviction for fraud and conspiracy.

Source Wikipedia, Bernard Ebbers
Sources
1. Bernard Ebbers (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Lead paragraph, parenthetical life dates
    February 2, 2020
  • Early life and education section, opening sentence
    Ebbers was born in Edmonton, Alberta, the second of five children of Kathleen and John Ebbers, a traveling salesman.
  • Lead paragraph, first sentence
    the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of WorldCom
  • Lead paragraph, first and second sentences
    Under his management, WorldCom grew rapidly but collapsed in 2002 amid revelations of accounting irregularities, making it at the time one of the largest accounting scandals in the United States.
  • Associated With: Telecommunications Industry
View the Source
Wikipedia, Bernard Ebbers
Wikipedia
  • Lead section
    Bernard John Ebbers was a Canadian-American businessman and the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of WorldCom.
  • Associated With: WorldCom Accounting Scandal, Accounting scandal section
    Ebbers, CFO Scott Sullivan, controller David Myers and general accounting director Buford 'Buddy' Yates used fraudulent accounting methods to disguise WorldCom's decreasing earnings in order to maintain the company's stock price.
  • Associated With: Accounting
View the Source

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