"The Informant" makes the most of his second chance

Mark Whitacre's life was an American success story. In 1989, at age 32, he had a Ph.D. from Cornell and was a division president for Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), one of the largest companies in the world. His net worth was in the millions. He and his wife, Ginger, had a great marriage and three growing children.

But ADM was involved in illegal price-fixing, and when Whitacre found out about it, he went to the FBI. The agency employed him as an informant for three years, with his involvement culminating when more than 70 FBI agents raided the offices of ADM in 1995. The subsequent trial made national news and resulted in several top ADM officials going to jail and the company having to pay more than $100 million in fines and penalties. ADM customers who had been cheated also sued, recovering hundreds of millions more. In the end, it was the largest case of its kind in American history.

Following the raid, Whitacre did not live happily ever after. At the same time he was cooperating with the FBI, he embezzled millions of dollars from ADM and had to spend eight years in prison for his role in the price-fixing scheme and embezzlement.

In an interview last Tuesday in front of students at The King's College in New York (part of this fall's Distinguished Visitor Series), Whitacre said that his prison sentence was a turning point for him: "If I had been given a six-month sentence, I don't think that would have been long enough for me to learn what I learned. I would likely have been the same old Mark Whitacre."

Whitacre, who now works as the chief operating officer for Cypress Systems, a California biotech company, will be in the news again this fall, as his life story will be played out on the big screen. The Informant!, starring Matt Damon as Whitacre, is scheduled for release September 18. Since the film does not highlight his Christian faith, Whitacre decided to write a book about his life, which is timed for release when the movie debuts. He hopes moviegoers will see the film and want to read the rest of the story.

"I know that this could sound like a cliché," Whitacre said, "but the only difference between 'bitter' and 'better' is the letter 'i.' My experiences could have made me bitter, but they haven't. They've made me better, but only because I finally learned that it's not all about me."

Look for excerpts of Mark Whitacre's interview at The King's College in an upcoming issue of WORLD Magazine.