Words fail to adequately express how sickening that statement is. (Doug? suggestions?) This man not only embodies all of the most insidious components of this bubble / bust period, but he has still not seen fit to pay severance to the 9000 people he fired, forget about all the money they lost in their 401Ks. And, besides the $735 mln Winnick cashed out, the initial group of Global Crossing cohorts made $5.2 bln (compared to $1.1bln for Enron)!
"Winnick is vacationing and unavailable to comment"
Of course he is. Poor guy. Maybe his mansion feels cramped periodically.
"Winnick's resignation is unrelated to the SEC investigation"
But, oh so convenient....
Global Crossing's Chairman Gary Winnick Steps Down (Update2) 2002-12-30 17:18 (New York)
(Adds lawyer's comments in second paragraph, details on resignation in fourth, fifth paragraphs.)
Los Angeles, Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Global Crossing Ltd. Chairman Gary Winnick resigned from the fiber-optic network operator he founded in 1997 and steered into bankruptcy less than five years later. Winnick, 55, will resign effective tomorrow, said his attorney, Terry Christensen. A former Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. executive, Winnick has sold shares worth $578 million since the 1998 initial stock sale. The Hamilton, Bermuda-based company sought protection from creditors in January after amassing $12.4 billion in debt to build a 100,000-mile fiber-optic network just as prices began plunging. The collapse of the telecommunications industry ``has taken a terrible toll on employees and investors alike, with an unprecedented loss of billions in investments and tens of thousands of jobs,'' Winnick said in a statement. ``I deeply regret that so many good people involved with Global Crossing also suffered significant financial loss.'' The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating allegations that Global Crossing inflated revenue from swaps of network use with rivals to mask a worsening financial performance. Winnick is vacationing and unavailable to comment, Christensen said in an interview. Winnick's resignation is unrelated to the SEC investigation, Christensen said. Global Crossing's new owners, which include Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte, didn't ask him to step down, Christensen said.
--Tom Giles in the San Francisco newsroom (415) 912 2967, or at tgiles at bloomberg.net. Editor: Reichl, Siler.
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