Ebbers Feared Fortune Would Be Wiped
|
Former WorldCom CEO, Bernie Ebbers, guaranteed a $400m loan from Bank Of America, with a substantial amount of his shares in the company. As his trial continued, the court heard testimony from from former Financial Controller, David Myers that Ebbers had tried to rally the stock price, when the bank called on him to repay the load. Ebbers, felt that his entire fortune based on WorldCom was at threat. The bank asked Ebbers either to repay the loan or put more security forward, according to his personal banker, Jayne Hammond. They threatened to sell the stock. Finally WorldCom backed the loan. At a meeting in 2001, attended by Myers, Ebbers called on senior execs to turn the company around. At the time the stock price was plummeting. Expenses were rising and revenues dipping. According to Myers, "He made a plea to everybody to do everything they could possibly do to work to reduce costs." The former WorldCom CEO is on trial on charges of fraud relating to the $11bn collapse of the Telecom giant in 2002. The collapse and that of Enron laid the foundation for the introduction of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
|
Related Articles
Similar Areas Selected Books Keywords
|