Product Description

The first inside look into the fall of the telecom industry pioneer
Disconnected is the first book to tell the tale of the once powerful telecom pioneer whose corporate scandal eclipses the Enron fiasco. During the summer of 2002, WorldCom, once a leading carrier of Internet traffic, filed the largest bankruptcy claim in American history due to accounting errors totaling over $7 billion-and now finds itself on the brink of corporate extinction. Disconnected offers an engaging account of what really went wrong at WorldCom and why no one saw this corporate collapse coming. Author and award-winning journalist Lynn Jeter has been covering WorldCom since 1984 and provides a one-of-a-kind look into the inner workings of this global telecom giant. Readers will take a front row seat as Jeter explores the personalities and factors that led to WorldCom's rise and dramatic fall-such as the failed Sprint merger in 2000 and the revelation in June 2002 of their overstatement in earnings. Digging deep to uncover the mistakes, missteps, and outright unethical behavior that engulfed WorldCom, Disconnected also takes a closer look at former CEO Bernie Ebbers who was on the frontline during the years leading up to this corporate debacle. Disconnected: Deceit and Betrayal at WorldCom gives readers the most telling account of a one-time industry giant.
Lynne W. Jeter (Hattiesburg, MS) has been the primary WorldCom reporter for the only statewide business journal in Mississippi (home of WorldCom headquarters), The Mississippi Business Journal. Jeter has closely followed the company's rise and fall since its inception as LDDS in 1983. As a native Mississippian, Jeter has a solid knowledge of the unique business climate of the Deep South and access to a wealth of information and contacts that no other reporter could possess on this topic.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #227871 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

From Booklist
In 1985, Canadian-born Bernie Ebbers, a high-school basketball coach and owner of a string of run-down hotels in rural Mississippi, took over local long-distance reseller LDDS and turned it into the nation's second-largest long-distance carrier, its stock peaking out in 1999 with a return of more than 7,000 times the initial investment. Unfortunately, WorldCom will not be remembered for this successful run, for after a failed attempt at a final merger with Sprint, the growth spurt ended and billions of dollars in accounting errors were revealed, leading in July 2002 to the filing of the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. The rise and fall of this telecom giant had a huge economic impact on the people of Mississippi, and as the primary WorldCom reporter for the Mississippi Business Journal, Jeter has been closely following the company since its inception as LDDS in 1983. She opens with a handy timeline of events and takes us behind the scenes to explore the careers and personalities of the players, including those accused of fraud and others who escaped unscathed. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Info
A must-read for all students majoring in business. It clearly and factually illustrates what happens when executives of an innovative, successful company lack moral and personal integrity, and accountants fail to exercise due diligence in discharging their professional responsibilities.

From the Back Cover
Praise for DISCONNECTED

"Lynne Jeter tackled the daunting task of making sense of the WorldCom accounting scandal with clear thinking and crisp writing. Disconnected sets a new standard for business writing."
–– Jim Laird, Editor, Mississippi Business Journal

"Disconnected is the story of the American dream at its best and worst: brilliant entreprenuerism, small-town businessmen with unrivaled vision and foresight, fortunes made, corporate vision distorted, fortunes lost, and lives shattered. Lynne Jeter paints a picture of the birth, growth, and collapse of WorldCom that puts you inside the minds of key players and leaves you wishing that this book were a work of fiction instead of stark reality."
–– Robert Ingram, former economic development assistant to the president
University of Southern Mississippi

"Lynne Jeter’s positive and responsible approach to journalism is refreshing. Her keen interest and research abilities make her a top-drawer professional."
–– Heath Hall, Publisher, Pointe Innovation

"Lynne Jeter is the premier southern business writer. She knows the territory. In this book, she writes with knowledge, understanding, clarity, and above all, with courage."
–– Starr Smith, international journalist, author, and award-winning travel writer

"Disconnected is a must-read for all students majoring in business. It clearly and factually illustrates what happens when executives of an innovative, successful company lack moral and personal integrity, and accountants fail to exercise due diligence in discharging their professional responsibilities. Only the future will provide the conclusion to this story."
–– Thomas T. Ivy, PhD, Professor and Chair Emeritus of Marketing
University of Southern Mississippi

Customer Reviews

Fluff
I found this book to be very basic and lacking details of the actual events that brought this company down. One minute you are reading about the genral morale of the office then all of a sudden there is a reference to "cooking the books" or something to the effect that this company is going to fall like a deck of cards. No where do you get the details of the actions that actually took place.If I wanted fluff I could have just watched some TV news stories on the company.

How Worldcom got where they are
After reading the current news about Worldcom's executives on trial, I was intrigued to find a book to find out how these people got into the mess they did. Disconnected by Lynne Jeter was a great and fascinating read. I couldn't put the book down. I enjoyed getting to know the personalities behind the WorldCom fiasco.

I've always wondered how people in corporate world get ahead and build successful companies. Most do it day in and day out, a long uphill climb. But when the companies (like WorldCom and Enron) are on top, those executives can do no wrong. When the dust settles, however, we see that they were really crooks and cons. They spent most of their time silencing people inside their organizations and propagandizing how great they are to people outside.

This book not only gets me up to speed on the players in the Worldcom fiasco, it shows that people inside organizations have a responsibility to do the right thing, for their other co-workers, for shareholders, and for america.

Since the story doesn't end with the book, I am now more interested in how the Worldcom story ends.

The story is in the people.
This book was really enjoyable to read. It was straight forward and informative but without taking sides or making excuses for the company which I expected, considering the author was a Mississippian, the home of WorldCom. The only negative I've seen about the book is that it isn't full of accounting analysis about the company and the fraud itself. I think that's the point. The fraud is as simple minded and immature. You have a very high profile, international company so crucial to the world's telecommunication system and yet Scott Sullivan pulls the most blatant of frauds by just posting as expenses line costs that weren't. There's really nothing complicated or sophisticated about the move. It's not like Enron that created layer upon layer of fraud and deceit. Indeed, we now see that Scott Sullivan is planning to use the "but everybody else does it" defense.

The key in the tale lies in the mindset of the management team operating in the insular world of the Mississippi business climate. Also the look at how Bernie Ebbers went from a man selling stock in the company literally door to door facing his neighbors, to being a "front man" on Wall Street and deceiving the business community there with the help of Jack Grubman was incredible. That's where the story is.

I agree the book is probably not for someone who is looking for an accounting mystery. That just wasn't the case at WorldCom.
But the look at the people and their manner of dealing with others and the growing arrogance, tells the tale.