Some companies grow large through internal expansion. Other companies rise to be among the largest in their industries through a series of business combinations. Two major companies that have followed the latter route are MCI WorldCom Inc. and Citigroup Inc.

Required

a. What are the primary businesses of MCI WorldCom and Citigroup?

b. Trace recent major acquisitions of both companies, and provide a brief history of how the two companies reached their current positions. What consideration (e.g.. cash, stock) was used in their acquisitions? What was the apparent strategy in the growth of the two companies?

c. Who are Sanford Weill, John Reed, and Bernard Ebbers? What roles have they played in the growth of MCI WorldCom and Citigroup?