Comments

For a second I thought you were quoting from the last State of the Union Address.

Posted by Kirk Samuels at March 1, 2005 3:07 PM

And he even will be an idol for some people. This kind of people are nasty and their deeds go against the pillars of growth and harmony in any community.

Posted by felix gerena at March 1, 2005 3:26 PM

Felix is right (again). Perhaps I'm in an unusally skeptical mood today, but when I read about his testimony, it made me immediately think his rehabilitation will involve buying the naming rights to some sports complex & therefore being seen as a philanthropist, and getting the Michael Milken treatment -- where everyone who has a public voice seems to agree a decade later that (1) he already suffered enough because he has a bad prostate and (2) he didn't do anything really wrong in the 1st place.

Posted by jeff angus at March 1, 2005 4:00 PM

I had a D.C. area neighbor who was a WorldCom employee - so it really becomes a family matter. Luckily the state of the union is solid - maybe more regulation oversight is needed though to prevent fraud.

Posted by Brad at March 1, 2005 4:14 PM

Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Like the trials of the Iraqi prisoner absuers, pathetic indeed.

Posted by Neil at March 1, 2005 4:43 PM

Neil pegs it here -- this is all about personal responsibility and professionalism. When you're the captain of the ship, anything that happens on your watch is ultimately your responsibility. "The Buck Stops Here". I am embarrassed and infuriated by Ebbers protestations of innocence: either he was a terrible CEO who had no clue about what was going on in his company, or he was a lying thief who continues this trait by trying to save face in the most ignominious of ways on the witness stand.

If I may, two articles that are related to this very topic: The first talks about how French Finance Minister Herve Gaymard took personal responsibility in a big way for some stupid moves on his part -- http://www.intuitive.com/blog/american_ceos_could_learn_from_french_minister_herve_gaymard.html -- and the second talks about the American CEO business as usual of Merck CEO Gilmartin getting a multi-million dollar bonus as he crashed his high-flying pharmaceutical company into the ground: http://www.intuitive.com/blog/merck_ceo_raymond_gilmartin_sees_14_mil_bonus_for_2004.html

The theme with both of these articles? Personal responsibility, professionalism and ethical behavior.

Posted by Dave Taylor at March 1, 2005 4:53 PM

Thank freedom that some can waste energy lazily whining about "abusers" while much of the Mid-east is slave rule tyranny - eager to slice and dice a fat Neil salad.

Posted by Sean at March 1, 2005 5:44 PM

when money talks--people listen. So therefore, the more money you have the more you can get away with what you want. This is the value stream of corporate world. The ethics that deemed to be wrong in the business world 50 years ago..is deemed to be right in todays world.

Why ?? because the core ethics, principles and values of people bow down to $$$$ only. So the more you have the more you have power. That is what has become of our CEO & corporations of today !!

Posted by /pd at March 1, 2005 7:12 PM

Ebers, as captain of USS WORLDCOM fraud, and all his exec staff should be obligated to pay back shareholders and employees.

all have a fiduciary responsibility as an exec officer, that they choose to break.

this guy deserves to fry. along with the rest of em

Posted by kurt at March 1, 2005 11:44 PM

Like Jeff I am skeptical about all this stuff.

Society is often very fickle

The guy from Worldcom will probably make millions and in ten years will be an icon.

Over here in the UK the Great Train Robbers from the early 1960's become cult heroes - the population over here seems to overlook the fact they stole million of pounds - raided a train - held an employee hostage on the train and he died.

Many people claim Ronnie Biggs is hard done by!!! ... This man had a wonderful money-laden life in Brazil since he left the UK immediately after the robbery in 1963 until he was brought back to England eventually three or four years ago and is now in prison where I hope he stays.

'Buster' Edwards become such a cult hero that the movie 'Buster' was made with Phil Collins playing the 'cheeky chappie' that was Buster Edwards. He was portrayed as an ordinary guy who was a small time thief.

Both of these characters were rogues of the highest order in my view and yet they are protrayed as heroes .... such is the fickle of all of us and justice.

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 2, 2005 6:01 AM

Perhaps Ebbers is attempting the Walt Whitman defense:

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes).

Posted by Carlos N Velez at March 2, 2005 10:51 AM

I have no sympathy for Bernie or any of the other celebrity CEO's who are claiming ignorance. Since none of them seem to understand anything that went on in their organizations, I guess it's no surprise that they didn't understand that fraud is a felony. If I were a juror I'd have difficulty believing that some guy who headed a multi-billion dollar corporation "didn't know nothin' 'bout runnin no company."

Posted by Andrew Hayden at March 2, 2005 12:09 PM

Carlos, wonderful!

Posted by tom peters at March 3, 2005 2:36 AM

I can readily believe Ebbers' claims of ignorance. He was the usual run-of-the-mill hack. who only "knew" what the accountants and lawyers told him. Most corporations have been co-opted by the accountant/lawyer/marketing/sales types, which is why so many fail and why there is so little true creativity left in corporate America. Even the criminals are uncreative in our new world order. Those who come from this world-view know not how to create or produce, only to take credit for what others can make. Why does it surprise anyone that they end up like this?

Posted by Mike at March 3, 2005 8:38 PM