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{{Short description|American telecommunications company (1983–2006)}}
{{About|LDDS, which later changed its name to WorldCom and purchased [[MCI Communications]]||MCI (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|WorldCom|the scandal|WorldCom scandal}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox company
| name = MCI Inc.
| logo = Mci logo.svg
| logo_size = 150px
| former_names = {{Unbulleted list|Long Distance Discount Services (1983–1995)|WorldCom (1995–1998, 2000–2003)|MCI WorldCom (1998–2000)|MCI (2003–2006)}}
| traded_as = {{Unbulleted list|{{NASDAQ was|MCIP}}|{{OTC Pink was|WCOEQ}}|{{NASDAQ was|WCOEQ}}|{{NASDAQ was|WCOME}}|{{NASDAQ was|WCOM}}}}
| type = [[Public company|Public]]
| parent = [[Verizon Communications]] (2006)
| foundation = {{start date and age|1983}}
| defunct = {{end date and age|2006}}
| location = [[Ashburn, Virginia]], U.S.
| industry = [[Telecommunications]]
| products = Conferencing, contact centers, data and IP services, [[internet access]], IT solutions and hosting, managed networks, premises equipment (CPE), security, voice, [[VoIP]], [[wireless]]
| revenue = US$20.6 billion (2005)
| trade_name = {{Unbulleted list|Verizon Enterprise Solutions|Verizon Business}}
| homepage = {{Unbulleted list|{{URL|https://enterprise.verizon.com/}}|{{URL|http://www.mci.com/mcihome.jsp}}}}
| fate = Acquired by [[Verizon Communications]] in 2006
}}
'''MCI, Inc.''' (formerly '''WorldCom''' and '''MCI WorldCom''') was a [[telecommunications]] company. For a time, it was the second-largest long-distance telephone company in the [[United States]], after [[AT&T]]. WorldCom grew largely by acquiring other telecommunications companies, including [[MCI Communications]] in 1998, and filed for bankruptcy in 2002 after [[WorldCom scandal|an accounting scandal]], in which several executives, including [[CEO]] [[Bernard Ebbers]], were convicted of a scheme to inflate the company's assets. In January 2006, the company, by then renamed MCI, was acquired by [[Verizon Communications]] and was later integrated into [[Verizon Business]].
WorldCom was originally headquartered in [[Clinton, Mississippi]] before relocating to [[Ashburn, Virginia]] when it changed its name to MCI.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.secinfo.com/dr8Pp.25j.htm | title=MCI Inc – SC 13D/A – LCC International Inc | work=[[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]] | date=March 14, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://edition.cnn.com/2003/BUSINESS/04/14/worldcom/ | title=WorldCom to emerge from collapse | work=[[CNN]] | date=April 14, 2003}}</ref>
==History==
===Foundation===
In 1983, in a [[Coffeehouse|coffee shop]] in [[Hattiesburg, Mississippi]], [[Bernard Ebbers]] and three other investors formed Long Distance Discount Services, Inc. based in [[Jackson, Mississippi]] and in 1985, Ebbers was named [[chief executive officer]]. The company acquired over 60 telecommunications firms, and in 1995, it changed its name to WorldCom.<ref>{{Cite news | title=WorldCom Timeline | url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/worldcom-timeline | agency=[[Associated Press]] | publisher=[[Fox News]] | date=August 8, 2002}}</ref>
In 1989, it became a corporation as a result of a merger with Advantage Companies Inc.<ref>{{Cite journal | title=WorldCom Inc | journal=Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers | volume=29 | issue=4 | pages=113–126 | first1=Satish C. | last1=P| first2=Pramod | last2=Verma | date=October 2004| doi=10.1177/0256090920040409 | s2cid=220072620 | doi-access=free }}</ref> The company name was changed to '''LDDS WorldCom''' in 1995, and it relocated to [[Clinton, Mississippi]].
The company grew rapidly in the 1990s, after completing several [[mergers and acquisitions]].
WorldCom's first major acquisition was in 1992 with the $720 million acquisition of Advanced Telecommunications Corporation, outbidding larger rivals [[Sprint Corporation]] and [[AT&T]] to secure the deal, making WorldCom a larger player in the [[telecoms]] market.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/01/business/worldcom-leader-departs-company-in-turbulent-time.html | last=Scheisel | first=Seth | title=Worldcom leader Departs Company during Turbulent Time | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=May 1, 2002 | url-access=subscription}}</ref>
Other acquisitions included: Metromedia Communication Corp. and Resurgens Communications Group in 1993,<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-08-15-fi-35305-story.html | title=John Kluge to Sell Stake in WorldCom Inc.: Telecom: The billionaire cites estate planning as a reason. Stock's price drops $2.125. | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=August 15, 1995}}</ref> IDB Communications Group, Inc (1994), Williams Technology Group, Inc. (1995), and MFS Communications Company (1996), and MCI in 1998. The acquisition of MFS included [[UUNET]] Technologies, Inc., which had been acquired by MFS shortly before the merger with WorldCom. In February 1998, WorldCom acquired [[CompuServe]] from its parent company [[H&R Block]]. WorldCom then retained the CompuServe Network Services Division, sold its online service to [[America Online]], and received AOL's network division, ANS. WorldCom acquired the corporate parent of [[Digex]], Intermedia Communications in June 2001 and then sold all of Intermedia's non-Digex assets to Allegiance Telecom.
===MCI acquisition===
[[Image:Mci-Worldcom logo.png|thumb|280px|right|MCI WorldCom logo (1998–2000)]]
On November 4, 1997, WorldCom and MCI Communications announced a $37 billion merger to form MCI WorldCom, making it the largest corporate merger in U.S. history. On September 15, 1998, the merger was consummated, forming '''MCI WorldCom'''. MCI divested itself of its "internetMCI" business to gain approval from the [[United States Department of Justice]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/press_releases/1998/1829.htm |title=Justice Department Clears WorldCom/MCI Merger After MCI Agrees to Sell Its Internet Business |date=July 15, 1998 |work=US Department of Justice |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601034716/http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/press_releases/1998/1829.htm |archive-date=June 1, 2009 }}</ref>
=== Proposed Sprint merger ===
[[Image:Worldcom-logo.png|thumb|280px|right|WorldCom logo (2000–2003)]]
On October 5, 1999, [[Sprint Corporation]] and MCI WorldCom announced a $129 billion merger. Had the deal been completed, it would have been the largest corporate merger in history. The merged company would have surpassed AT&T as the largest communications company in the United States. However, the deal floundered due to opposition from the U.S. Department of Justice and the [[European Union]] on concerns that it would create a monopoly. On July 13, 2000, the boards of directors of both companies terminated the merger. Later that year, MCI WorldCom renamed itself "WorldCom".<ref>{{cite news | title=WorldCom and Sprint End their merger discussion | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/14/business/worldcom-and-sprint-end-their-115-billion-merger.html | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=July 14, 2000 | url-access=subscription| last1=Romero | first1=Simon }}</ref>
===Accounting scandals===
{{See also|Cynthia Cooper (accountant)|Bernard Ebbers|Eugene Morse|label 1=Cynthia Cooper|WorldCom scandal}}
Between September 2000 and April 2002, the [[board of directors]] of WorldCom authorized several loans and loan guarantees to CEO Bernard Ebbers so that he would not have to sell his WorldCom shares to meet [[margin call]]s as the share price plummeted during the bursting of the [[dot-com bubble]]. By April 2002, the board had lost patience with these loans. Directors also believed that Ebbers did not seem to have a coherent strategy after the Sprint merger collapsed. On April 26, the board voted to ask for Ebbers' resignation. Ebbers formally resigned on April 30, 2002 and was replaced by [[John W. Sidgmore]], former CEO of [[UUNET]]. As part of his departure, Ebbers's loans were consolidated into a single $408.2 million [[promissory note]].<ref>{{cite news | url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2002-11-05-ebbers-loans-timeline_x.htm | title=Ebbers $400M in Loans from WorldCom | work=[[USA Today]] | date=November 5, 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/723527/000091205702020812/0000912057-02-020812.txt | title=WorldCom quarterly report for the quarter ended March 31, 2002 | date=May 15, 2002}}</ref><ref name=ExtraCirc>{{cite book |last=Cooper|first=Cynthia |author-link=Cynthia Cooper (accountant) |title=Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons, Inc.]] |location=[[Hoboken, New Jersey]] |isbn=978-0-470-12429-1 |date=2008-02-04 }}</ref>{{rp|216–218}} In 2003, Ebbers defaulted on the note and WorldCom foreclosed on many of his assets.<ref name=sec>{{cite web | url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/723527/000119312504039709/d10k.htm | title=Worldcom, Inc. 2002 Form 10-K Annual Report | publisher=[[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]]}}</ref>
Beginning modestly during mid-1999 and continuing at an accelerated pace through May 2002, Ebbers, CFO [[Scott Sullivan (executive)|Scott Sullivan]], [[Comptroller|controller]] David Myers and general accounting director Buford "Buddy" Yates used [[fraud]]ulent accounting methods to disguise WorldCom's decreasing earnings in order to maintain the company's stock price.<ref name=sec/>
The fraud was accomplished primarily in two ways:
#Booking "line costs" (interconnection expenses with other telecommunication companies) as [[capital expenditure]]s on the balance sheet instead of [[expense]]s.
#Inflating revenues with bogus accounting entries from "corporate unallocated revenue accounts".
In June 2002, a small team of [[internal audit]]ors at WorldCom led by division vice president [[Cynthia Cooper (accountant)|Cynthia Cooper]] and senior associate [[Eugene Morse]] worked together, often at night and secretly, to investigate and reveal what was ultimately discovered to be $3.8 billion worth of fraudulent entries in WorldCom's books.<ref name=WallStreetJournal>{{cite news | first1=Susan | last1=Pulliam | first2=Deborah | last2=Soloman | title=How Three Unlikely Sleuths Exposed Fraud at WorldCom: Firm's Own Employees Sniffed Out Cryptic Clues and Followed Hunches | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1035929943494003751 | work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] | date=October 30, 2002 | url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=Time2002b>{{cite magazine | first=Amanda | last=Ripley | author-link=Amanda Ripley | title=Cynthia Cooper: The Night Detective | url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1003990,00.html | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=December 30, 2002 | url-access=subscription}}</ref> The investigation was triggered by suspicious balance sheet entries discovered during a routine capital expenditure audit. Cooper notified the company's audit committee and board of directors in June 2002. The board moved swiftly, forcing Myers to resign and firing Sullivan when he refused to resign. [[Arthur Andersen]] withdrew its audit opinion for 2001.<ref name=ExtraCirc/>{{rp|223–264}} Cooper and her team had exposed the largest accounting fraud in American history, displacing the [[Enron scandal|fraud]] uncovered at [[Enron]] less than a year earlier. It would remain the largest accounting fraud ever uncovered until the exposure of [[Bernard Madoff]]'s [[Madoff investment scandal|giant Ponzi scheme]] in 2008.
By this time, the [[U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi]], the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] and the [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]] were already looking into the matter as well. The SEC launched a formal inquiry into these matters on June 26, 2002.<ref name=ExtraCirc/>{{rp|265}} The SEC was already investigating WorldCom for questionable accounting practices.<ref name=FWWeekly>{{cite news|url=http://archive.fwweekly.com/index-new.asp?article=3159|title=Accounting for Anguish|author1=Gale Reaves|publisher=[[Fort Worth Weekly]]|date=May 16, 2002|access-date=April 11, 2020|archive-date=October 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005191631/http://archive.fwweekly.com/index-new.asp?article=3159|url-status=dead}}</ref> By the end of 2003, it was estimated that the company's total assets had been inflated by about $11 billion.<ref name=sec/>
The fraud came to light just days after Andersen was convicted of obstruction of justice in the Enron scandal, a verdict that effectively put Andersen out of business. In his post-mortem of the Enron scandal, ''[[Conspiracy of Fools]],'' journalist [[Kurt Eichenwald]] argued that Andersen's failure to uncover WorldCom's deceit would have brought Andersen down even if it had escaped the Enron fraud unscathed.<ref>{{cite book|title=Conspiracy of Fools|last=Eichenwald|first=Kurt|author-link=Kurt Eichenwald|publisher=[[Broadway Books]]|year=2005|isbn=0767911792|title-link=Conspiracy of Fools}}</ref>
=== Bankruptcy ===
On July 21, 2002, WorldCom filed for [[Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection]] in the largest such filing in United States history at the time (overtaken by the bankruptcies of both [[Lehman Brothers]] and [[Washington Mutual]] in a span of eleven days during September 2008). The WorldCom bankruptcy proceedings were held before U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Judge [[Arthur Gonzalez]], who simultaneously heard the [[Enron]] bankruptcy proceedings, which were the second-largest bankruptcy case resulting from one of the largest corporate fraud scandals. None of the criminal proceedings against WorldCom and its officers and agents were originated by referral from Gonzalez or the Department of Justice lawyers. By the bankruptcy reorganization agreement, the company paid $750 million to the SEC in cash and stock in the new MCI, which was intended to be paid to wronged investors.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/08/business/technology-worldcom-agrees-to-pay-750-million-in-sec-suit.html | title=TECHNOLOGY; WorldCom Agrees to Pay $750 Million In S.E.C. Suit | first=Barnaby J. | last=Feder | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=July 8, 2003 | url-access=subscription}}</ref>
Effective December 16, 2002, [[Michael Capellas]] became chairman and chief executive officer.<ref>{{Cite web | title=WorldCom, Inc. Annual Report | date=March 12, 2004 | publisher=[[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]] | work=Edgar form 10-K | url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/723527/000119312504039709/d10k.htm}}</ref> On April 14, 2003, WorldCom changed its name to '''MCI''', and relocated its corporate headquarters from [[Clinton, Mississippi]], to [[Ashburn, Virginia]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/20/business/worldcom-changes-its-name-and-emerges-from-bankruptcy.html | title=Worldcom Changes Its Name and Emerges From Bankruptcy | first=Kenneth N. | last=Gilpin | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=April 20, 2004 | url-access=subscription}}</ref>
Even before then, however, employees from the MCI side of the merger had taken over top executive posts, while many longtime executives from the old WorldCom were pushed out. In late 2002, the company began moving most of its operations to its campus in Ashburn, which had opened in 2000. Capellas, for instance, spent most of his time in Northern Virginia. After the name change, one executive from the old MCI said, "We're taking our company back." Another wrote in an email, "My company was not founded in a motel coffee shop."<ref name=ExtraCirc/>{{rp|320}}
In May 2003, in a controversial deal, the company was given a $45 million [[no-bid contract]] by the [[United States Department of Defense]] to build a cellular phone service in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led reconstruction effort despite the fact that the company was not known for its expertise in building wireless networks.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3340627 | title=MCI's federal contracts questioned | work=[[NBC News]] | date=October 24, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/WorldCom-s-Iraq-deal-assailed-1115245.php | title=WorldCom's Iraq deal assailed | first=Brian | last=Bergstein | agency=[[Associated Press]] | publisher=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]] | date=May 21, 2003}}</ref>
WorldCom agreed to pay a civil penalty of $2.25 billion to the [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]]. The deal was approved by federal judge [[Jed Rakoff]] in July 2003.<ref>{{cite press release | url=https://www.sec.gov/news/press/2003-81.htm | title=The Honorable Jed Rakoff Approves Settlement of SEC'S Claim for a Civil Penalty Against Worldcom | publisher=[[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]] | date=July 7, 2003}}</ref> In a sweeping [[consent decree]], the SEC and Rakoff essentially took control of WorldCom. Rakoff appointed former SEC chairman [[Richard C. Breeden]] to oversee WorldCom's compliance with the SEC agreement. Breeden actively involved himself with the management of the company, and prepared a report for Rakoff, titled Restoring Trust, in which he proposed extensive [[corporate governance]] reforms, as part of an effort to "cast the new MCI into what he hoped would become a model of how shareholders should be protected and how companies should be run".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ecgi.global/code/restoring-trust-breeden-report-corporate-governance-future-mci-inc | title=Restoring Trust: Corporate Governance for the future of MCI | date=July 31, 2003}}</ref>
=== Post-bankruptcy ===
[[Image:Bernard Ebbers.jpg|120px|thumb|right|Bernard Ebbers]]
The company emerged from [[bankruptcy]] in 2004 with about $5.7 billion in debt and $6 billion in cash. About half of the cash was intended to pay various claims and settlements. Previous [[bondholders]] ended up being paid 35.7 cents on the dollar, in bonds and stock in the new MCI company. The previous stockholders' [[stock]] was cancelled.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/21/business/out-of-chapter-11-worldcom-is-again-mci.html | title=Out of Chapter 11, WorldCom Is Again MCI | agency=[[Reuters]] | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=April 21, 2004 | url-access=subscription}}</ref>
It had yet to pay many of its creditors, who had waited for two years for a portion of the money owed. Many of the small creditors included former employees, primarily those who were dismissed during June 2002 and whose severance and benefits were withheld when WorldCom filed for bankruptcy.
[[Citigroup]] settled with Worldcom investors for $2.65 billion on May 10, 2004.<ref>{{cite press release | url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20040510005424/en/Citigroup-Reaches-Settlement-WorldCom-Class-Action-Litigation | title=Citigroup Reaches Settlement on WorldCom Class Action Litigation for $1.64 Billion After-Tax | publisher=[[Business Wire]] | date=May 10, 2004}}</ref> In March 2007, 16 of WorldCom's 17 former underwriters reached settlements with investors.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/16/business/jp-morgan-chase-settles-worldcom-suit-for-2-billion.html | title=J.P. Morgan Chase Settles WorldCom Suit for $2 Billion | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=March 16, 2005 | url-access=subscription}}</ref>
On March 15, 2005, [[Bernard Ebbers]] was found guilty of all charges and convicted of fraud, conspiracy and filing false documents with regulators—all related to the $11 billion accounting scandal. Other former WorldCom officials charged with criminal penalties in relation to the company's financial misstatements include former CFO Scott Sullivan (entered a guilty plea on March 2, 2004, to one count each of securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and filing false statements),<ref>{{cite news| url=https://money.cnn.com/2004/03/02/technology/ebbers/ | work=[[CNN]] | title=Ebbers indicted, ex-CFO pleads guilty | date=March 2, 2004}}</ref> former controller David Myers (pleaded guilty to securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and filing false statements on September 27, 2002),<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-worldcom-exec-gets-prison/ | title=Former WorldCom Exec Gets Prison | work=[[CBS News]] | date=August 10, 2005}}</ref> former accounting director Buford Yates (pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud charges on October 7, 2002),<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2002-10-07-yates-plea_x.htm | work=[[USA Today]] | title=Another guilty plea in WorldCom fraud case | first=Andrew | last=Backover | date=October 7, 2002}}</ref> and former accounting managers Betty Vinson and Troy Normand (both pleading guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud on October 10, 2002).<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2-more-worldcom-execs-plead-guilty/ | title=2 More WorldCom Execs Plead Guilty | work=[[CBS News]] | date=November 5, 2002}}</ref>
On July 13, 2005, Bernard Ebbers received a sentence that would have kept him imprisoned for 25 years. At time of sentencing, Ebbers was 63 years old. On September 26, 2006, Ebbers surrendered himself to the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]] prison at [[Oakdale, Louisiana]], the [[Oakdale Federal Correctional Institution]], to begin serving his sentence; he was released in late 2019 for health reasons and died in February 2020, after serving 13 years of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news | title=Convicted former WorldCom CEO Ebbers dead at 78 | work=[[Reuters]] | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-ebbers/convicted-former-worldcom-ceo-ebbers-dead-at-78-idUSKBN1ZX0G2 | first=Mekhla | last=Raina | date=February 2, 2020}}</ref>
In December 2005, [[Microsoft]] announced a partnership with MCI to provide [[Windows Live Messenger]] customers [[voice over IP]] service to make telephone calls—called "MCI Web Calling".<ref>{{cite press release | url=https://news.microsoft.com/2005/12/12/microsoft-and-mci-join-to-deliver-consumer-pc-to-phone-calling/ | title=Microsoft and MCI Join to Deliver Consumer PC-to-Phone Calling | publisher=[[Microsoft]] | date=December 12, 2005}}</ref> After the merger with Verizon, this product was renamed "Verizon Web Calling".
In January 2006, the company was acquired by [[Verizon Communications]] and was later integrated into [[Verizon Business]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.cnet.com/news/verizon-closes-book-on-mci-merger/ | title=Verizon closes book on MCI merger | first=Marguerite | last=Reardon | work=[[CNET]] | date=January 6, 2006}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[1-800-COLLECT]]
* [[List of corporate collapses and scandals]]
* ''[[Vivien v. WorldCom]]''
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
==Further reading==
* {{Cite book | author=Lynne W. Jeter | title=Disconnected: Deceit and Betrayal at WorldCom | publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] | year=2003 | isbn=0-471-42997-X | url=https://archive.org/details/disconnecteddece00jete}}
* {{Cite book | author=Om Malik |title=Broadbandits | publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] | year=2003 | isbn=0-471-43405-1 | url=https://archive.org/details/broadbanditsinsi00mali}}
* {{Cite book | first=Cynthia | last=Cooper | author-link=Cynthia Cooper (accountant) | title=Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower | publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] | year=2008 | isbn=978-0-470-12429-1}} A book by the former chief audit executive of Worldcom on the demise of the company.
* {{Cite book | first=Larry | last=Kahaner | author-link=Larry Kahaner | title=On the Line: How MCI Took on AT&T, and Won! | publisher=[[Grand Central Publishing]] | year=1987 | isbn=978-0446385503}}
==External links==
*[http://www.mci.com/mcihome.jsp Legacy MCI website] | Verizon Communications
{{Corporate scandals}}
{{Verizon}}
{{Dot-com Bubble}}
{{Authority control}}
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