Time & Perspective Quote by Bernie Ebbers

A businessman doesn’t talk about “assets” the way the rest of us talk about money. Ebbers’ phrasing is a kind of corporate anesthesia: “some assets” softens what could be a confession of urgency, and “over time will be worth something” is both a reassurance and a stall tactic. It’s the language of someone trying to outwait the present, to turn immediate pressure into a long-term narrative where patience magically converts paper into stability.

The second sentence is where the intent sharpens. “I’ve been in the process of selling others” is a masterclass in distancing. Not “I sold,” which implies a decision and a reckoning, but “in the process,” which makes the act feel procedural, almost passive, as if markets and advisors are doing the selling, not him. “Others” keeps the details offstage; it’s a pronoun doing legal work, avoiding the specificity that invites follow-up questions.

In context, Ebbers’ name is inseparable from the WorldCom saga and the era’s executive habit of narrating crisis as temporary turbulence. The subtext isn’t just personal liquidity; it’s reputation management. He’s performing solvency, signaling to lenders, shareholders, and prosecutors that he has resources and a plan, without admitting vulnerability or culpability. The line captures a late-90s/early-2000s ethos: financial reality as something you can manage with framing, where the right verbs (“process,” “worth”) are meant to hold the world together a little longer.