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Telecom Cowboy gets 25 years

Marguerite Reardon Former senior reporter
Marguerite Reardon started as a CNET News reporter in 2004, covering cellphone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate and the consolidation of the phone companies.
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Marguerite Reardon

Bernard Ebbers, the former CEO of WorldCom, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan, the toughest sentence so far in a string of corporate fraud cases.

The founder of cable company Adelphia, John Rigas, 80, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for fraud, while his son Timothy Rigas, 48, got 20 years.

But few expected Ebbers, who oversaw the $11 billion bankruptcy of WorldCom-- the largest accounting fraud in U.S. history-- to get anything less than 20 years. Ebbers, who is now 63, won't even be eligible for release until he is 85.

Today's sentence topped a tough week for Ebbers, who agreed to a settlement on Monday that will essentially wipe him and his wife, Kristie, out of all his personal assets, including $5 million in cash, which will be used to resolve a shareholder lawsuit.

I can't say I feel sorry for Bernie. But the former English teacher in me can't help note the classic tragic elements of his personal story-- a former gym teacher turned millionaire, who through his own hubris and greed, winds up with nothing.

The Bernie Ebbers story is a television mini-series waiting to happen.