Reuters: WorldCom's Ebbers says unaware expenses a problem

Update: Ebbers: “I’m totally switching my long distance phone service.”

New York: Shortly after facing accusations regarding an $11B accounting scandal at Worldcom, former CEO Bernie Ebbers admitted that he too was shocked at his phone bills. “It must have been the roaming charges or maybe that broadband account…I thought that I was going to get a good deal after WorldCom merged with MCI … I never expected this.”

The remarks were made during witness testimony regarding financial management practices at Worldcom. Ebbers, dressed in a pinstripe suit, repeatedly stated that he could not hear the judge, complaining of static and requesting that “the nice man in the long gray overcoat” come and help him out. Later he took a bundle of bills from his pocket and shook them in the air. “This is what I get for making those calls during peak hours,” he said “why didn’t I become CEO of Cingular?” Scheduled witnesses include physicist Stephen Hawking, who is slated to testify that it is possible— when traveling at near the speed of light— to accumulate over 22 billion out of network overtime minutes in the space of several days.
- posted by JB @ 8:28 PM