what happened to cynthia cooper 
cynthia cooper was largely responsible for bringing attention to worldcom s questionable accounting practices she discovered several inconsistencies in the company s financial statements and reported them to auditors and the company s board in her book extraordinary circumstances the journey of a corporate whistle blower cooper said it was a difficult time in her career but she was awarded by time by being named a person of the year in 2002 she is now a speaker and consultant the bottom lineworldcom was a telecommunications company that prided itself on providing its customers with affordable long distance services but an aggressive acquisition strategy and falling revenues led the company to a downward spiral that would ultimately open the door to one of the largest accounting frauds and bankruptcies in the united states the company used fraudulent accounting techniques to hide its losses while making itself look more profitable than it was which helped it retain its place as a darling among investors although it managed to restructure and emerge from bankruptcy worldcom s example helped corporate management teams and investors learn a valuable lesson if something looks too good to be true it probably is 