According to the Financial Times, Ebbers made a donation to Mississippi College that was financed by loans he received from WorldCom when he was CEO. It involved Ebbers guaranteeing a letter of credit on bond issues from the school he graduated from.

While the bonds were guaranteed using his stock as collateral, this was replaced by $36.5m in cash by WorldCom, when the stock price fell.

Although the tax benefit can only be realised once the bonds mature, Ebbers has made a request to the Bank of America that they be paid earlier than planned. This, according to the FT, could be as early as February.