"All the News
That's Fit to Print"
VOL. CLIV No. 53,155
By KEN BELSON
Bernard J. Ebbers, the former
chief executive of WorldCom, was
found guilty yesterday in federal
court of orchestrating a record $11)
billion fraud that came to symbolize
the telecommunications bubble of
the 1990's and the excesses that were
uncovered in its aftermath.
The seven women and five men in
the jury reached a verdict after de
liberating for about 40 hours over
eight days. Mr. Ebbers was convict-
ed of securities fraud, conspiracy
and seven counts of filing false re-
ports with
Each count
carries a sen5 or 10 years.
Mr. Ebbers and World Com,
through the acquisition of dozens of
phone companies, helped to create
the rush for telecommunications.
stocks in the 1990's. They were at the
center of a swirl of scandals that cast
doubt on corporate accounting meth-
ods, the role of Wall Street analysts,
and Investment bankers who sold
stocks and bonds to investors.
The New York T
Ex-Chief of World Com Is Found Guilty in $11 Billion Fraud
Ebbers Has Become
Highest Executive
to Be Convicted
WorldCom's phantom growth
caused once-mighty telecommunica-
tions companies like AT&T to cut
prices and slash costs in the crip-
pling race to keep up, from which
they never fully recovered. And MCI,
which WorldCom acquired with its
lofty stock in 1998, was tainted by
WorldCom's bankruptcy, was forced.
to let thousands of workers go and
may soon be acquired.
21/100
Copyright 2005 The New York Times
NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2005
Louts Lantano/Associated Prem
Bernard J. Ebbers and his wife, Kristie, left Federal District Court in New York yesterday after he was convict-
ed of securities fraud, conspiracy and seven counts of filing false reports with regulators.
marelle.
