In His cowboy boots and stetson hat, Bernie Ebbers made a splendid cover for any magazine that wanted to be abreast of the telecoms revolution of the late 1990s. His background, too, had just the sort of mix of hard grind, modest intellectual prowess and sporting vim that America likes in its hero-bosses. Born in Canada, he worked as a milkman by day and a bouncer by night. He dropped out of college twice, eventually graduating with a degree in physical education from Mississippi College, where he had a basketball scholarship. With this perfect pedigree, Mr Ebbers coupled a talent for deft deal-making and cosmic quantities of chutzpah. He also picked out early the industry that was to be a centre of the late-1990s bubble. After a bout of buying and selling hotels and motels, Mr Ebbers spotted the opportunities created by the break-up of AT&T, America's telecoms giant.
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