He was still teaching at the Sunday school as recently as this spring.As Mr Ebbers’ business success continued to grow, with WorldCom’s impressive steel and glass Clinton headquarters on Interstate 20 the emblem of its rise, so the community started to take to him. It was not just simply a matter of the jobs Mr Ebbers created in what has always been America’s poorest state that won people over. Indeed, fewer than 3,000 of WorldCom’s 80,000 or so employees were based in Clinton But people were impressed by his normal, everyday manner. They liked the fact that he wore jeans, a leather jacket and cowboy boots to the office rather than business suits. They liked the fact that although he bought a sprawling ranch south of Jackson at Brookhaven, he still found the time to serve meals to the homeless most weeks at Frank’s Famous Biscuits store.People were also impressed by his preparedness to give back to the community. One of the many stories told about Mr Ebbers recalls how in 1998 when the Rev Jesse Jackson gave a speech in Tougaloo College, a cradle of the civil rights movement in Mississippi, he rhetorically asked his audience why Mr Ebbers was able to pay $37m for MCI but could not afford to donate funds to local black students. A local businessman and board member, LeRoy Walker, later pulled the fiery Mr Jackson aside and revealed that Mr Ebbers had donated more than $1m to the college as well as helping to set up a country club for disadvantaged students “Bernie Ebbers is my mentor,” said Mr Walker.

Mr Jackson ­ a man known for holding firm with his opinions ­ was apparently won over.There is another tradition in many business legends, that of the seemingly unstoppable rise of some buccaneer suddenly coming down hard and fast in Icarus-like fashion. For Mr Ebbers the fall from grace began two years after he acquired MCI when he set his sights on Sprint, another long-distance provider. This was a particularly important deal for WorldCom because it would provide Mr Ebbers with a nationwide wireless network.But the deal would not be easy, mainly because of the involvement of regulators who insisted that for the deal to be approved Mr Ebbers would have to sell large parts of WorldCom and MCI. He backed out and shares in WorldCom began to tumble.”I’m sure, with the recent performance of the stock, people have a legitimate right to ask if I’m the right person to lead the company,” he said, as the value of WorldCom’s shares fell by 60 per cent. “We recognise that as a company we have let you investors down I have let myself down.” Mr Ebbers’ prediction was correct.

In April this year, when the company missed its first-quarter earnings targets, Mr Ebbers was forced out of his position as president and chief executive. He left the company struggling with $30bn of debt, $167m of that being the unpaid element of a personal loan he had taken after buying too much of its stock when it was at its highest price.But he also left the company facing an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into its lending and accounting habits. The Justice Department said it was “reviewing” whether to launch a criminal investigation after President George Bush said the government would get to the bottom of the matter. CALAMITIES ON WALL STREETENRON Once the seventh biggest company in America, Enron collapsed in December amid revelations about overstated profits, hidden debts and the shredding of documents.

Executives pocketed £500m in the year before its demise.ADELPHIA The cable television company has filed for protection from predators after admitting profits and its number of subscribers had been exaggerated. Adelphia also guaranteed loans of £2bn to its founding family.GLOBAL CROSSING The telecoms company was once worth £30bn as investors lapped up its plan to link 200 cities with high-speed cables. But it was forced to file for bankrupty protection in January, buried under £5.5bn of debts.TYCO More than £600bn was wiped off its value after the company’s former boss was found to have borrowed £24m from a corporate fund to buy art works for his New York home. Dennis Kozlowski also stands accused of evading state taxes.QWEST Joseph Nacchio became the latest US corporate hero to fall off his pedestal when the phone company ousted him last week. Qwest is the subject of an investigation that may see it forced to revise down three years of profit figures.ANDERSEN The one consolation for Andersen, the accountant which audited WorldCom’s accounts, is that it is well practised in dealing with scandals.