Jackson Jambalaya

Bernie Ebbers ruined the (financial) lives of many people, and richly deserved the punishment he got. I cannot imagine that any of his victims will be sorry to hear that he is dead. Assuming this comment is allowed past the gatekeeper, I fully expect the noble Christian faction to thunder, “All souls are equal in the sight of God! Only HE can judge,” etc. etc.

Well, fine. Take it from here, God.

He looked like a holocaust survivor when they finally turned him loose. He was too sick to go to the dining hall. And they refused to allocate him a wheelchair. So he basically just laid on his bunk for the past few years and starved to death.

So Scott Sullivan gets out in 4 years. And Bernie basically gets a death sentence. Got it.

When Bernie went down, I felt the sentence was excessive. Five years in the can and complete bankruptcy would have been sufficient for the "pound of flesh" society wants and enough dissuasion for others who would consider such white collar impropriety.

Truthfully, I didn't pay that much attention. More recently, I learned of his lavish life style and realized that he was always a sick, greedy personality. Didn't really change my feelings about his sentence, just made me realize even more what a motivator greed and power always are.

With no real feelings of sympathy for him, it is sad to see a life so completely obliterated.

You only get one chance. His second wife seems to be doing just fine. A shining example of loyalty. The kind of person that really makes me sick.

Elon Musk will be keeping Bernie's old prison cell warm soon enough if there is any justice.

RIP. He spent too long in prison for something Scott Sullivan did. He is with the Lord now.

He’s in hell now and deservedly so.

Where is Scott Sullivan now and what's he up to?

Ebbers the PE teacher was in the right place at the right time in Brookhaven when LDDS was dreamed up on a diner napkin and it morphed in to WorldComm.

@7:49 am - completely agree.

8:22
You described how a lot of success stories are written. Not everyone has to sweat to get rich. You sound like a jealous commie who has never created wealth before. Keep sipping that hater-aid.

Everyone I know making over $80K a year works his or her ass off.

WAPT actually broke the story last night. There were many calls going out between 8:45 P.M. and 9:45 P.M. to confirm his passing. Finally, the local media did some actual gum shoe reporting. I hope the WSJ credits the original story from our local media.

Why should it? The WSJ probably developed its own story. This was a national story and the newspaper probably already had contacts.

Face it, there was a lot going on behind this whole debacle. Just my personal thoughts, but I'm not entirely convinced that Bernie knew what exactly was going on. If that's the case, then he's to blame for not keeping a better handle on Sullivan. Still in all, I feel badly for what he had to endure in those final stages in prison. I understand some people lost everything. The word divest comes to mind. It's equally as bad for them to so desperately want to exact their pound of flesh, that they find some sort of satisfaction in his suffering as a sick and aged man and his death.

Like 8:50, I sense Mr. Ebbers did not know what was occurring. He was convicted because he should have known.
These past several years must have been brutal for him. May he rest in peace. May each of us avoid judgmentalism and extend grace. May his family be given respect in these days.

What happened at WorldCom took a serious conspiracy. Yes, Bernie was steering the ship and should have known what was going on, but Scott Sullivan is just as guilty if not more so. He was the one who prepared the false financial statements the mislead investors. He used his knowledge of the financial markets to cover up the underlying deterioration of the company.

Bernie wanted the numbers to work, and Sullivan made them believable. Sullivan should have gotten just as long a sentence as Bernie, but that is the way of the American legal system. Those that cooperate and turn in the "big fish" get off with a slap on the wrist no matter how involved they were.

I don't have a problem with them letting him out early because of his deteriorating health, as he had already served a good bit of his sentence. However, his family's reasoning that keeping him in prison "would not bring back anyone’s investments” is disingenuous at best. We know that leaving murderers in prison does not bring back their victims. It's a punishment for what you've already done.

Whatever you think, he had a trial and was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

He was justly imprisoned for financially ruining people.

Condolences for his family and friends. They did lose a father, husband, friend..

the people in this third world backwater know as mississippi love to glorify their 'heros of business and industry'. ..............ever notice how most of their 'heros' are eventually exposed for the scam artists that they are?

Bernie Ebbers was a good man that got greedy. Its gets a lot of people. If it were not for Him Miss College would probably have gone under when the President Noble was stealing all the money for strippers (still hard to believe that story actually happened) He helped so many charities and having spoken with him and seen him in action I know he is a good man with faults. Like we all have. Yes I lost all my retirement in Worldcom thank goodness I was young and could rebuild. Funny Story I had a friend who was an early employee at LDDS like one of the first 25 employees. The Year before Worldcom went under, they let him go (compay technolgy had outgrown Him) He got so mad he sold every share Of Worldcom stock he had. Best thing that ever happened to him as he he like me had every dime of retirement in Worldcom stock. All Year as the stock continuing rising, He would say Man I guess I was a little hasty. He Got the Last life. RIP Bernie you did a lot more good things than bad.

KLLM managed to survive and is thriving.

Two or three per decade (at most) out of tens of thousands? Am I close?

It’s unfortunate for Bernie that he wasn’t allowed a trial with no witnesses or evidence presented and with his fellow executives sitting on the jury. I think he would have likely been acquitted. I guess some trials are just more fair than others.

To all those who CONSTANTLY declare he financially ruined them...

No, YOU (or someone you empowered) made a CHOICE to invest heavily in the company. It wasn’t HIS duty to make you wealthy! THIS RIGHT HERE is why I liken investing to gambling. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose... but YOU made the choice in one form or another. You lost, so now you blame him. If you were still winning, he’d be a hero. Take some dang responsibility for your own choices!!

The truth is, Sullivan should have rotted for the fraud... he was the one actively in the know.

If I remember correctly, WC paid its employee match for 401k in company stock but didn't allow them to sell it or move it around in their 401K. Same thing happened at Enron. Correct me if I'm wrong. The rules were changed after the blowups at those two companies so employees could do so. So not everyone who lost $$ had a choice. The employees lost their 401k matches if company stock.

KF, this is @1:41 and a former WC employee. Yes, the 401k was stock mandatory, but I’m sorry... NO ONE lost “everything” that way. Most people are bitching and moaning about stock options (which I lost WAY, WAY more value in than I did with value of my 401k) and/or the non-employees who were heavily invested individually.

Any WC employee who was there long enough to be “destroyed” by their 401k, likely road the high on the original stock options granted way before the MCI merger. I know MANY who cashed out for HUGE sums. I know a few who held their options and regretted it. Regardless, they didn’t put money up for those options... those were granted as a benefit.

Also, there were choices about how much we contributed in 401k. If they contributed more heavily, it was their choice... which was part of my point. I wasn’t personally a fan of only investing in WC stock as my 401k option, but we all knew that was the deal before we initiated our investments.

People LOVE riding the high and partaking in the credit, but once it fails it’s someone else’s fault. If they need to blame someone they should be pointing their anger at Sullivan.

Ultimately, any stock investment is a gamble. It’s a gamble on market performance. It’s also a gamble on the integrity of the company’s numbers. Educated folks like to label this as “risk”... but it’s still a gamble!

@1:41 Bernie had an obligation to provide complete, accurate financials to allow people to make an educated choice to invest in that company. He was too concerned about numbers that didn't meet expectations affecting the stock price and correspondingly the pending Sprint purchase that he pressured (ordered?) Sullivan to make the numbers work.

Whether or not Bernie knew exactly what Sullivan was doing, there is no way he didn't know the numbers he was signing off on were being fudged.

I lost money on WorldCom. I'll take responsibility for my choices made with the information I had, but when that information is wrong then it is not unreasonable to blame the person who was lying to me.

Sullivan knew the details, but Bernie doesn't get a pass for claiming ignorance.

@2:34- A big piece of the puzzle you are missing is that the inaccuracy of numbers was WAY out of control before Bernie knew what was happening. (Up until this point, it was genuine ignorance.) He trusted his inner circle to get and do things right. (Sullivan should have known (I believe he knew) and corrected.) Relatively speaking, the explosion of the stock happened in a short time period. Yes, mergers were his thing... that was well known. I’ll always believe the mergers allowed the discrepancies to be introduced... and then the discrepancies snowballed. Not intentionally, but as the result of poor internal audits... hello, Sullivan!!

There’s a story that Bernie learned of the discrepancies RIGHT before a shareholders’ meeting. He made the choice to save face at the meeting and go with numbers he BELIEVED were accurate. (They weren’t...) He genuinely thought it was something the company could recover the next quarter. (It wasn’t...) It wasn’t as cynical on his part as you choose to portray.

Ask anybody who was there 10+ years and was not a peon, and they will tell you Bernie did a lot of good for a lot of people and there is no way he could have come up with this scheme. At some point he probably knew something was not right, but he took the fall for ALL of the corporate shenanigans of the previous decade. No other corporate executive got what he did, but several did far worse. But the cowboy from Mississippi was an easy target.

KF, some people work hard for a lot less than 80K/year.

I knew him personally in his earlier days, went to church with him, played tennis with him, etc.; before he "hit it big". Like so many men, the devil took him down with the 3-Ps (power, prestige, and pu@%y). And I lost a boat load of money believing in the old Bernie. I expect he repented after he lost everything, so hopefully he's back as his former self enjoying a piece of Heaven.

3:41 Somber and truthful statement.

It was criminal to make/allow the man to virtually die before the system decided to send him home for his last month and a half. Realizing now what his physical condition was, of what benefit to the state or society was keeping him caged for the past ten or so months? I reckon that can be answered only by the guy who said Bernie is now in hell.

Not that it matters, but I don’t think BE had the educational ability to adequately discern the accounting of a company that large. There is no way a basketball coach’s education would have this ability.
I do have reservations as to whether or not he received a fair trail. It seems to me that he should have been tried in MS rather than Manhattan, NY.
I am very thankful that my sources tell me that BE was a repentant Christian. Contrary to pagan beliefs, unfortunately Christians sin. For by faith one is saved by grace.

8:50;9:24
Y’all r probably correct. That being the case, maybe the BOD should have been prosecuted having had placed one in a position that one was not qualified to preform.

RIP Bernie. Hope the family can find peace during this difficult time!

Bernie is fine now and in the presence of his creator. My thoughts and prayers are with his family. I am appalled at the level of hatred and evilness coming from people who probably didn’t know him and most likely did not loose any money . I knew him, lost money and got over it. You haters need to take some responsibility.

Into thy hands, O merciful Savior, we commend thy servant
Bernie. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech thee, a sheep of thine
own fold, a lamb of thine own flock, a sinner of thine own
redeeming. Receive him into the arms of thy mercy, into the
blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious
company of the saints in light. Amen.

12:34 Amen. RIP Bernie. May the Ebbers family heal from their hurts and may God grant them peace thru our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

If you only ask and repent, your sins are washed away by our Christ’s precious blood!
I too lost much $$$$ via WC. GOD’s grace is much greater! RIP Bernie <><