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WorldCom completes three mergers
with MCI Communications Corp. ($40 billion)—the largest in history at that time—Brooks Fiber Properties Inc. ($1.2 billion) and CompuServe Corp ($1.3 billion). -
WorldCom and Sprint Corp. agree to merge.
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U.S. and European regulators block proposed merger with Sprint; WorldCom and Sprint terminate agreement.
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SEC Makes Initial Request for Information
SEC requested data from the firm about a range of financial reporting topics, including (1) disputed bills and sales commissions, (2) a 2000 charge against earnings related to wholesale customers, (3) accounting policies for mergers, (4) loans to the CEO, (5) integration of WorldCom’s computer systems with those of MCI, and (6) WorldCom’s tracking of Wall Street analysts’ earnings expectations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HjXHwvDLlw -
Huge Layoffs Within the Company
WorldCom cuts 3,700 jobs in the U.S. which was 4% of their overall workforce. -
CEO Resigns
CEO Bernard Ebbers resigned, with stock prices plummeting and the SEC's continued probe about his personal loans. Vice Chairman John Sidgmore takes over the position. -
WorldCom's Performance Continues to Decline
Standard & Poor drops WorldCom's credit rating to junk status. -
Jobs Cut, Exiting Wireless Resale
WorldCom says it will exit the wireless resale business and will cut jobs to reduce expenses and pare massive debts. -
CEO FIRED, ANNOUNCE IMPROPER ACCOUNTING
WorldCom fires its chief financial officer after uncovering improper accounting of $3.8 billion in expenses that covered up a net loss for 2001 and the first quarter of 2002. The company also says it will cut 17,000 jobs, more than 20 percent of its workforce. -
Trading of Stock is Halted
Nasdaq market halts trading in WorldCom's two tracking stocks, WorldCom Group and MCI Group. Shares of WorldCom touched as low as 9 cents before the halt. President George W. Bush calls for full investigation of the matter. -
Disovery of Longtime Accounting Malpractice
WorldCom reveals that an internal investigation has uncovered questionable accounting practices stretching back as far as 1999. -
Executives Refuse to Answer Questions
Former top WorldCom executives Bernard Ebbers and Scott D. Sullivan refuse to answer questions posed by a congressional committee. -
More Information Leaks About CEO's Knowledge of Fraud
A congressman tells the news media that former WorldCom Inc. chief financial officer Scott D. Sullivan told company lawyers that he informed ex-chief executive Bernard J. Ebbers about bookkeeping maneuvers that made the company look more healthy than it really was. -
WorldCom Declares Bankruptcy
WorldCom files for bankruptcy protection, listing some$107 billion in assets and $41 billion in debt, on a consolidated basis as of March 31, the largest such filing in U.S. history. CEO Sidgmore says the company plans to emerge from protection within 9 to 12 months. The company will have access to up to $2 billion in funding but does not plan to tap all of it. -
2 Former Employees Arrested
WorldCom's former Chief Financial Officer Scott Sullivan and former Controller David Myers are arrested for their role in the scandal. The two were charged in a seven-count complaint accusing them of securities fraud and filing false statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission. -
More Improper Accounting Discovered
WorldCom's internal auditors have uncovered an additional $3.8 billion in improper accounting, doubling the amount of its known accounting errors to more than $7.6 billion over the past two years. -
Top Executives Still Making Money
Salomon Smith Barney, the investment banking firm, discloses that it rewarded some WorldCom executives with IPO stock. Critics said the practice raises concerns because it could amount to an improper reward for WorldCom officials for bringing lucrative banking business to Salomon. The WorldCom executives were able to reap financial gain from selling the IPO stock. WorldCom founder Bernard Ebbers and former CFO Scott Sullivan received shares, according to subsequent news reports. -
Former Controller Pleads Guilty
WorldCom Inc.'s former controller, David F. Myers, pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy, securities fraud and making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Myers is the first WorldCom executive to fall in the largest accounting scandal in U.S. history. -
Former Accounting Director Pleads Guilty
Buford Yates Jr., WorldCom Inc.'s former accounting director, pleads guilty to two counts of securities fraud and conspiracy. -
SEC Expands Its Search
SEC expands fraud case against WorldCom Inc., with claims that the company's improper bookkeeping dates back to at least 1999, totaling over $9 billion in fraudulent activity. -
Initial Settlement with SEC
WorldCom reaches initial settlement with SEC, in which the company must continue to submit to federal oversight. The question still remains whether the company will be subject to a fine. -
Six WorldCom directors resign.
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WorldCom announces that it will take one-time $79.8 billion write-off.
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Reorganization Plans for Future of Company
WorldCom unveils reorganization plan that would erase most of its debt, rename the company after its long-distance unit, MCI, and move its headquarters from Clinton, Miss., to Ashburn, Va. -
Former CEO Pleads NOT Guilty
Former CFO, Scott D. Sullivan, pleads not guilty today to securities and bank fraud. -
Payback Investors
WorldCom agrees to pay investors $500 million to settle civil fraud charges. -
Settlement Between WorldCom and Federal Regulators
A federal judge approves a $750 million settlement between WorldCom and federal regulators. -
New Allegations of Rerouting Calls
Sources say the Justice Department is investigating allegations that WorldCom improperly rerouted long-distance calls. -
WorldCom Refutes Rerouting Allegations
WorldCom tells a federal bankruptcy court that preliminary results from an internal investigation found no evidence that the long-distance telephone company tried to disguise the origin of calls or route them improperly to avoid paying fees to local phone companies. -
New CEO Hired
WorldCom appoints former AT&T Corp. executive Richard R. Roscitt as its new president and chief operating officer. -
More Criminal Charges Against Former Executives
Oklahoma Attorney General W.A. Drew Edmondson files criminal charges against WorldCom Inc. and six former executives, including founder Bernard J. Ebbers. -
Creditors Abandon Their Legal Challenge of Reorginzation
Two groups of dissident creditors abandon their legal challenge to the company's reorganization plan in return for a combined payout of more than $400 million. -
AT&T Allow Reorganization
AT&T Corp. agrees to drop objections in federal bankruptcy court to portions of WorldCom Inc.'s reorganization plan. -
New Chief Ethics Officer
WorldCom Inc. announces the appointment of a chief ethics officer who will report directly to the chief executive. -
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur J. Gonzalez approved WorldCom Inc.'s reorganization plan.
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Emerging From Bankruptcy
MCI officially emerges from bankruptcy, 21 months after filing the largest Chapter 11 case in history. -
MCI says it will eliminate 7,500 jobs, or 15 percent of its workforce.
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10 Former Directors Settle
The lead plaintiff in the WorldCom class-action suit formally announces a $54 million settlement covering 10 former WorldCom directors. -
Opening statements are heard in the trial of Bernard J. Ebbers.
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Judge Rejects Settlement of 10 Directors
A federal judge rejects part of a groundbreaking settlement in which 10 former WorldCom directors agreed to pay $54 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit. -
Verizon Communications Inc. announces a $6.75 billion deal to buy MCI Inc.
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Bernard J. Ebbers Found Guilty
Former WorldCom Inc. chief executive Bernard J. Ebbers is found guilty of conspiracy, securities fraud and making false filings with regulators.
http://www.forbes.com/2005/03/15/cx_da_0315ebbersguilty.html
