Bernard Ebbers, WorldCom CEO Convicted of Fraud, Dies at 78 (1)

Bernard Ebbers, the ousted chief executive officer at WorldCom Inc. whose corporate malfeasance led to imprisonment, has died. He was 78.

He died Sunday, surrounded by his family at home in Brookhaven, Mississippi, a little more than a month after his early release from prison, according to a family statement released by his lawyer, Graham P. Carner. No cause was given.

A federal judge ordered Ebbers released in December for medical reasons after he had served more than 13 years of a 25-year sentence.

Ebbers, a onetime milkman and bar bouncer, led a fledgling company — originally named Long ...