Bernard Ebbers, the former WorldCom Inc chief executive convicted in one of the largest U.S. accounting scandals, died on Sunday, his family said in a statement.
Ebbers, 78, a one-time milkman became known as an exacting, cost-obsessed boss, was released from prison in December because of his deteriorating health.
He had served about 13-1/4 years of a 25-year prison term for orchestrating an $11 billion fraud that led to his now-defunct telecommunications company’s 2002 bankruptcy, at the time the largest Chapter 11 case in U.S. history.
In a court filing in September, Ebbers’ lawyers said their client was legally blind, suffered from a heart ailment and anemia, had lost 40 lb (18 kg) in a little over a year, and had become incapable of walking regularly for exercise.
