Fall WorldCom began in 1983 during the breakup of AT&T, which enabled competitors to start selling long distance telephone service to individuals and business customers. A group of investors from Hattiesburg, Mississippi decided to start a communications company called Long Distance Discount Services (LDDS). The company lead by Bill Fields leased a local Bell System Wide-Area Telecommunications Service (WATS) line and resold time on the line to businesses. The sophisticated long distance technology
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Wor9 - 1 04 - 0 71 R EV: JU LY 2 6 , 2 00 4 RO BERT S. KAPLAN D A VI D KIR O N Accounting Fraud at WorldCom WorldCom could not have failed as a result of the actions of a limited number of individuals. Rather, there was a broad breakdown of the system of internal controls, corporate governance and individual responsibility, all of which worked together to create a culture in which few persons took responsibility until it was too late . — Richard Thornburgh, former U.S. attorney general1 On
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WorldCom spent almost $60 billion in the acquisition of many of these companies and accumulated $41 billion in debt. Two of these acquisitions were particularly significant. The MFS Communications acquisition enabled WorldCom to obtain UUNet, a major supplier of Internet services to business, and MCI Communications gave WorldCom one of the largest providers of business and consumer telephone service. By 1997, WorldCom's stock had risen from pennies per share to over $60 a share. Through what appeared
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Mark Willis BUS 508 – Contemporary Bus November 15, 2013 Determine the most important five skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. As the annual price tag for fraud at American business soars to nearly $1 trillion, the demand for Certified Public Accountants that provide forensic accounting services has increased exponentially-
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Koslowski of Tyco, or Gary Winnick of Global Crossing.3 Personally, Bernie is a hard guy not to like. In 1998 when Bernie was in the midst of acquiring the telecommunications firm MCI, Reverend Jesse Jackson, speaking at an all-black college near WorldCom's Mississippi headquarters, asked how Ebbers could afford $35 billion for MCI but hadn't donated funds to local black students. Businessman LeRoy Walker Jr., was in the audience at Jackson's speech, and afterwards
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Martin Calkins, University of Massachusetts-Boston In December 2005, two years after this case was written, the telecommunications industry consolidated further. Verizon Communications acquired MCI/WorldCom and SBC Communications acquired AT&T Corporation, which had been in business since the 19th Century. The acquisition of MCI/WorldCom was the direct result of the behavior of WorldCom's senior managers as documented above. While it can be argued that the demise of AT&T Corp. was not wholly
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WorldCom an American telecommunications subsidiary of Verizon Communications that is headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia. The corporation was originally formed as a result of the merger of WorldCom and MCI Communications. For a time, WorldCom was the United States's second largest long distance phone company (after AT&T). WorldCom grew largely by aggressively acquiring other telecommunications companies, most notably MCI Communications. It also owned the Tier 1 ISP UUNET, a major part of the Internet
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thousand dollars. (WorldCom, 2010) By 1994 the long distance service revenues reached $2.2 billion and the company’s name was then changed in 1995 to WorldCom to reflect its growing global business. Then in 1998 WorldCom completed a takeover of MCI so it became MCI WorldCom. The company was doing so good but then hit rock bottom for Bernie Ebbers when he had to resign in 2001 due to loan scandal. (WorldCom, 2010) Now that I explained a little about the company I would like to get into evaluating the planning
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acquisitions in the 1990s. The low margins that the industry was accustomed to weren't enough for Bernie Ebbers, CEO of WorldCom. From 1995 until 2000, WorldCom purchased over sixty other telecom firms. In 1997 it bought MCI for $37 billion. WorldCom moved into Internet and data communications, handling 50 percent of all United States Internet traffic and 50 percent of all e-mails worldwide. By 2001, WorldCom owned one-third of all data cables in the United States. In addition, they were the second-largest
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acquisitions in the 1990s. The low margins that the industry was accustomed to weren't enough for Bernie Ebbers, CEO of WorldCom. From 1995 until 2000, WorldCom purchased over sixty other telecom firms. In 1997 it bought MCI for $37 billion. WorldCom moved into Internet and data communications, handling 50 percent of all United States Internet traffic and 50 percent of all e-mails worldwide. By 2001, WorldCom owned one-third of all data cables in the United States. In addition, they were the second-largest
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