CHAPTER 13 Corporations: Organization, Stock Transactions, and Dividends
CP 13–1
At the time of this decision, the WorldCom board had come under intense scrutiny.
This was the largest loan by a company to its CEO in history. The SEC began an
investigation into this loan, and Bernie Ebbers was eventually terminated as the
CEO, with this loan being cited as part of the reason. The board indicated that
the decision to lend Ebbers this money was to keep him from selling his stock
and depressing the share price. Thus, it claimed that it was actually helping
shareholders by keeping these shares from being sold. However, this argument
wasn’t well received, given that the share price dropped from around $15 per
share at the time of the loan to about $2.50 per share when Ebbers was
terminated. In addition, critics were scornful of the low “sweetheart” interest rate
given to Ebbers for this loan. In addition, many critics viewed the loan as risky,
given that it was not supported by any personal assets. WorldCom has since
entered bankruptcy proceedings, Ebbers has gone to prison, and the Ebbers loan
went uncollected.
Some press comments:
1. When he borrowed money personally, he used his WorldCom stock as
collateral. As these loans came due, he was unwilling to sell at “depressed
2. It was astonishing to read the other day that the board of directors of the
United States’ second-largest telecommunications company claims to have
had its shareholders’ interests in mind when it agreed to grant more than $430
million in low-interest loans to the company’s CEO, mainly to meet margin
CASES & PROJECTS
13-36