Erin Yeung, Ross Birkinshaw, and Tolu Michaels – all MBA ’26 candidates – attended a recent presentation by renowned WorldCom whistleblower Cynthia Cooper, held for Ivey’s MBA students. Cooper, who exposed the $3.8-billion accounting fraud at WorldCom, is a familiar and respected guest at Ivey. With each visit, she brings fresh, insightful reflections from her experiences navigating one of the largest corporate scandals in U.S. history.
The session, hosted by Ivey’s CPA Ontario Centre for Accounting and the Public Interest, was followed by a personal interview conducted by Yeung, Birkinshaw, and Michaels. In the discussion, Cooper offered deeper insights into the complex and often isolating journey of a whistleblower. She spoke candidly about the personal challenges whistleblowers face and how courage plays a critical role.
The whistleblower’s journey
Cooper emphasized that uncovering the accounting fraud began with trusting her instincts. What started as curiosity, gradually evolved into suspicion, and ultimately, certainty of wrongdoing. As a trained accountant, her professional skepticism enabled her to press forward with confidence, refusing to be deterred by intimidation.
However, the journey was far from easy. Cooper faced resistance from multiple directions as she began probing and asking difficult questions. While courage was essential, Cooper said that often requires digging deep. She stressed the importance of self-awareness, explaining that individuals must first “know what they stand for” before they can “find their courage.”
“Find your voice and use your voice, even if your voice is shaking,” she said.
Though fear and anxiety can feel overwhelming, Cooper reminded us that these emotions are temporary and should never prevent us from making the right decisions.
The impact of upbringing and values on whistleblowing
Emphasizing that her core values were shaped early in life by the guidance of her parents, teachers, and religious upbringing, Cooper said these foundational influences gave her a strong sense of right and wrong. Reflecting on her childhood, she recalls how her mother supported her and her brother as children, offering advice in moments of adversity.
“If someone bullied me, she would say, ‘Keep the courage of your convictions, think about the consequences of your actions, and don’t let yourself get intimidated,”’ Cooper said.
She said her mother's advice became a lifelong guiding principle, giving her the strength to navigate challenging situations whenever needed.
Life after whistleblowing and the importance of support
Exposing the WorldCom fraud dramatically altered the trajectory of Cooper’s life. She acknowledges the crucial role her family played as a support system during this challenging period. At the time, her daughters were just 12 and nine, and with her husband serving as a stay-at-home parent, she was the family’s sole breadwinner.
Sensing the magnitude of what lay ahead, she confided in her husband, saying, “This is going to be really big. We may lose everything.”
His response – “They can’t take us from each other" – became a source of strength throughout her journey.
Although she couldn’t share the specifics of her investigation, Cooper said her husband’s unwavering support provided the reassurance she needed to move forward.
She reflected that life’s most profound lessons often emerge from moments of adversity and difficult circumstances. Her experience at WorldCom led her to re-evaluate her priorities and focus on what truly matters. Cooper emphasized the importance of instilling strong values in the next generation. While her core values remain unchanged, she said she is now more intentional in passing them on – to her daughters and, more recently, her grandchildren – continuing the legacy her mother began.
Lessons and final thoughts
As the interview concluded, Cooper reflected on several profound quotes from her book, Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower. One that particularly resonated with us was her insight: “Ethics require the standards to follow and the will to uphold them.” This statement underscores the fundamental roles of both integrity and courage in ethical decision-making.
Her message to us as future leaders was clear: speak up, stand firm, and let courage be the legacy you leave behind.
L-r: Fatima Rufai, Ivey Professor Vaughan Radcliffe, Erin Yeung, Cynthia Cooper, Tolu Michaels, Ross Birkinshaw, Heidi Ng, and Liam Newman.
