WorldCom Accounting Manipulation

CEO Bernie Ebbers orchestrated $11 billion in fraudulent accounting entries, inflating WorldCom’s earnings to mask operating losses. This stands as the then-largest U.S. bankruptcy, surpassing Enron’s $63.4 billion filing just months earlier. The scheme involved capitalizing routine expenses, a tactic 40% more severe than the typical accounting fraud. Ebbers received a 25-year prison sentence, making it one of the few cases where a CEO served nearly a full term.