Broadbandits: Inside the $750 Billion Telecom Heist - Hardcover

Malik, Om P.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471434051 ISBN 13: 9780471434054

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2003

Synopsis

This book helps in investigating the financial fraud and misguided power plays that brought down the telecom industry. Once the foundation of the Dow and NASDAQ, the telecom industry has eaten up more capital than any other industry in recent history and has nothing to show for it. Today, it is by far the worst culprit in the spate of financial dirty dealings that have been splashed across the business pages, and yet the rewards reaped by top executives at many of these failed or failing companies have been inversely proportionate to their decline. "Broadbandits" takes readers behind the scenes to get the story they won't get in the media. Investigative reporter Om Malik follows the money trail and deciphers the actions and motivations of a generation of new economy "barbarians" that brought down this once lucrative industry.This intriguing book offers an inside look into the telecom bubble, with tales and anecdotes about mavericks who turned simple light and glass fibers into veins of gold, financiers who got greedy and fleeced unsuspecting millions, clueless venture capitalists who thought they'd tapped into the mother lode, hapless entrepreneurs who believed that they were changing the world, and self-proclaimed pundits who were cheering it all on from the sidelines. "Broadbandits" is a compelling account of the downfall of telecom giants such as WorldCom and Global Crossing, and will show readers how many telecom upstarts and veterans alike became victims of what one chief executive aptly described as "high-yield heroin." Om Malik (New York, NY) is a Senior Writer for "Red Herring" who focuses on the telecommunications sector. Prior to joining "Red Herring" in July 2000, he was senior editor at Forbes.com. His work has also been published in newspapers and magazines such as "The Wall Street Journal", "Business 2.0", "Brandweek", and "Crain's New York Business". For a very brief while, he was a venture capitalist.

About this title

About the Author

OM MALIK is a Senior Writer for Business 2.0 in San Francisco. Prior to joining Business 2.0, he worked for Red Herring and Forbes Online, where he was a senior editor. An award-winning journalist, his work has also been published in newspapers and magazines such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Brandweek, and CrainOs New York Business. For a very brief while, he was a venture capitalist.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Broadbandits

"Om Malik?s spread of blame for the Internet bubble shows there?s plenty to go around. For my part, I am sorry and promise almost never to do it again. Malik holds a special place in hell for Salomon stock promoter Jack Grubman. But then Wall Street should have weeded him out way back when they caught him lying about going to MIT."
?Bob Metcalfe, MIT graduate, Ethernet inventor, 3Com founder, InfoWorld pundit, and Polaris partner

"Broadbandits weaves together a story of greed, money, power, and crime to reveal to the millions of people who lost their investments in telecom stock where, and to whom, their hard-earned dollars went."
?Charles Dubow, Executive Editor, Forbes.com

"Om Malik has the courage to write that instead of reporting EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) the CEOs he calls broadbandits reported their own style of EBITDA (Earnings Before Irregularities, Tampering, and Dubious Accounting). His pen is as wicked as Mark Twain?s."
?Blaise Zerega, Managing Editor, Wired magazine

"Rare, for a book in its field, Broadbandits is an attractive, stodge-free read. Accessible, even mischievous, it should prove instructive not merely to geeks, (disgruntled) venture capitalists, and bankrupt telecom tycoons, but also to that species most neglected of all?the lay reader."
?Tunku Varadarajan, Editorial Features Editor, The Wall Street Journal

"Broadbandits is a fast-paced tale of the key players responsible for inflating the telecom bubble. Many were fools, many others rogues, some managed to escape with riches, some were ruined. With an unforgettable cast, Broadbandits is a sobering account of monumental financial waste and the derailment of hundreds of thousands of lives."
?Andrew Odlyzko, Director, Digital Technology Center and Assistant Vice President for Research, University of Minnesota

From the Inside Flap

Broadband (noun):High-speed network access.

Broadbandit (noun):One who padded his coffers by $50 million or more riding the bandwidth bubble.

Before the ink was even dry on the Telecommunications Act of 1996, a telecom bubble larger than that of its dot-com sister was quickly beginning to form. With the deregulation of the telecom industry finally complete, the race was on; and what ensued was nothing less than a financial hit and run, which left the telecommunications industry in shambles and investors brokebut made the broadbandits who led this charge rich beyond their wildest dreams.

Broadbandits: Inside the $750 Billion Telecom Heist goes behind the scenes to uncover the actions and motivations of a handful of men and a few dozen companies who worshipped at the altar of corporate greedand for the most part got away with it! Through interviews with numerous industry insiders and real-world stories, investigative reporter Om Malik follows the money trail to reveal the events that all but destroyed an industry and decimated thousands of portfolios in the process.

Broadbandits offers a candid look at how fiber barons such as Bernie Ebbers of WorldCom, Gary Winnick of Global Crossing, and Joe Nacchio of Qwest turned simple light and glass fibers into veins of gold that allowed them to build enormous personal fortunes, even as their companies were going down in flames. Youll be there to watch as eager venture capitalists and unknowing investors try to buy their piece of the American Dreamonly to get burned by once high-flying companies such as Excite@Home, Winstar, McLeodUSA, Nortel, and Sycamore.

Broadbandits puts you face-to-face with the shameless individuals who used the hype and hysteria of the telecom revolution to pump up telecom stocks and line their own pocketseven when there was little evidence to substantiate their claims. Youll learn how the former pied piper of the telecom industry, analyst Jack Grubman, played both sides of the fence to make millions, while pundit George Gilders pie-in-the-sky predictions transformed him into a cult hero, until everything came crashing down on him.

The broadband bubble was the result of over-blown expectations and irrational exuberance. Broadbandits provides an inside look at the financial schemes and misguided power plays that made victims out of everyone and brought an industry to its knees.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471434051
• ISBN 13: 9780471434054
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352