Synopsis
With the nation's biggest banks about to finalize a record $1.4 billion settlement for securities violations, FRONTLINE investigates what New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer calls Wall Street's "corrupt business model" that cost American investors trillions. Tracing the stunning rise and fall of WorldCom, the hottest stock and then biggest bankruptcy of the 1990s, correspondent Hedrick Smith uncovers the hidden ties that enabled superbanks and Wall Street insiders to shape and profit from the telecom boom while leaving ordinary investors holding worthless stock when the bubble burst.