Disconnected: Deceit and Betrayal at WorldCom [Hardcover]

Lynne W. Jeter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 6, 2003

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.

Editorial Reviews

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

Review

“…I cannot recommend this book highly enough…” (Accounting Technician, November 2003)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047142997X
• ISBN-13: 978-0471429975
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,441,776 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting story, poor writing, July 24, 2005

By 

Hawk (Houston, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Disconnected: Deceit and Betrayal at WorldCom (Hardcover)

This book could have been much better if it progressed in a linear fashion. Much time is spent talking about small time players and the industry in general, but Worldcom and Bernie Ebbers seem to be on the backburner. The scandal is not brought up until the last 15 pages of the book, with only vague reference to "cooking the books" and writing off capital expenses.

It's an easy, quick read that is mildly entertaining. Unfortunately, it falls short in the facts and research department.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Train wreck book of a train wreck company, June 4, 2006

By 

Todd Bartholomew (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Disconnected: Deceit and Betrayal at WorldCom (Paperback)

It's a pity that the only currently available book on the WorldCom meltdown is "Disconnected." While I'm sure Ms. Jeter is a respected writer on Mississippi business "Disconnected" is a perfect example of what can go wrong when a journalist/columnist tries to write a book; it reads more like a series of columns cobbled together rather than anything coherent and unified, which is a shame as the WorldCom fiasco deserves better than this. As a former legacy-MCI middle manager I was hoping "Disconnected" would be an incisive look into how it all went wrong and while it does that to varying degrees of success it's a major effort to get through the book, primarily due to the poor writing. Jeter has a pronounced tendency to repeat herself, which often left me wondering if these were old columns "cut and pasted" together to make a book. One particular problem is Jeter's habit of introducing a player and 40 pages later mentioning them in passing without putting them back into context. A great example of this is Diana Day-Cartee who was involved in WorldCom's forerunner LDDS and allegedly one of Bernie Ebbers many mistresses. She's mention in Chapter 3 "The Spending Spree" (pages 30, 36, & 37) then disappears until page 72 when she pops back up again casually mentioned in passing as, "Diana (Day) married some music executive." Huh? Would it kill Jeter just to append a quick "Bernie's alleged former lover" or "Early LDDS stalwart"? This is typical of Jeter's treatment of characters in the book, she fails to provide context as to who they are and how they're relevant leaving you to flip back and try to recall who the heck they were. Again, this is typical of the problems when a journalist tries to expound things to book-length, but it isn't always like that as witnessed by Neil Hayes's "When the Game Stands Tall." Jeter takes great pains to try and be impartial, which was probably due to the fact this was written and rushed to press before Ebbers trial and there was no way of knowing how the verdict would go.

Jeter's book also lacks depth as it is told primarily from the legacy-WorldCom side of things and often ignores the perspective of the other companies forced into WorldCom. Some things in the book are spot-on, dead-accurate, and at times it was like a sickening trip down an unpleasant memory lane. But Jeter also gets some things absolutely dead-wrong which tells me she was over-relying on WorldCom sources rather than speaking to ex-MCI employees, which is sad as most of them would have been all too happy to talk (myself included). "Disconnected" would have benefited from a much more diligent editor and the book as considerable dead-space thanks to its odd layout (blank pages). Most of the recommendations on the back dust jacket are puff pieces from fellow Mississippians who likely never read the book beforehand and include her editor at the Mississippi Business Journal and a travel writer (!?). While I did find "Disconnected" a compelling page turner that I read rather quickly I was particularly interested in the subject matter. If it were anyone else I don't know they'd slog through this mess. With Ebbers and Sullivan rightly convicted its time for an updated version that fixes these problems, but preferably I'd rather see someone else just start from scratch.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The story is in the people., May 6, 2003

By 

bob pappas (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Disconnected: Deceit and Betrayal at WorldCom (Hardcover)

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.