Companies and Brands

WorldCom

Also Known As Long Distance Discount Services (LDDS); MCI WorldCom; MCI Inc.

Citation Formats

General Reference

Business Atlas. "WorldCom." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-business.interactiveatlas.org/companies/worldcom.

APA Style

Business Atlas. (n.d.). WorldCom. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-business.interactiveatlas.org/companies/worldcom

BibTeX

@misc{businessatlas-worldcom,
  author = {Business Atlas},
  title = {WorldCom},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-business.interactiveatlas.org/companies/worldcom},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

An American telecommunications company founded in 1983 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi as Long Distance Discount Services, renamed WorldCom in 1995 and grown largely by acquisition, including MCI Communications in 1998. Between September 2000 and April 2002 its executives ran a scheme to inflate the company's assets and understate expenses; the fraud's discovery in June 2002 led to a bankruptcy filing that July, the largest in United States history at the time. The company emerged from bankruptcy in 2004 under the MCI Inc. name.

Facts

Company Type

Long-distance and internet telecommunications carrier (historical; reorganized as MCI Inc. after its 2002 bankruptcy) 1

Founded Year

1983 1

Headquarters

Clinton, Mississippi, U.S. (originally Jackson, Mississippi as Long Distance Discount Services) 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

WorldCom Accounting Scandal

The company whose 2000-2002 accounting fraud this event names.

Chief executive from the company's founding (as Long Distance Discount Services, renamed WorldCom in 1995) until his forced resignation in April 2002, amid the accounting scandal that led to his March 2005 conviction for fraud and conspiracy.

Source Wikipedia, Bernard Ebbers

Operates In

Telecommunications Industry

Long-distance and internet telecommunications carrier.

Additional Source Wikipedia, MCI Inc.Lead section

Sources

1. Wikipedia, MCI Inc.

Wikipediaopening paragraph

Quote, opening paragraph

WorldCom grew largely by acquiring other telecommunications companies, including MCI Communications in 1998, and filed for bankruptcy in July 2002 after an accounting scandal, in which several executives were convicted of a scheme to inflate the company's assets.

View the Source

1. Wikipedia, MCI Inc.

WikipediaOperates In: Telecommunications Industry, Lead section

Quote, Operates In: Telecommunications Industry, Lead section