Nearly a year after Global Crossing Holdings Ltd.’s collapse, the bankrupt carrier’s controversial founder and chairman, Gary Winnick, has resigned (see Global Crossing's Winnick Resigns).
Winnick is the latest in a line of top telecom executives who've left their posts as their embattled companies struggle to distance themselves from the high-flying days of the telecom boom (see Akerson Exits XO, Is Capellas Right for WorldCom?, Qwest Purge Continues, and AT&T 's Armstrong Era Ending ).
“Winnick leaving was what had to happen,” says Jeff Kagan, an independent analyst based in Georgia. “Global Crossing went from being the poster child for the Internet boom to being the poster child for scandal and fraud.
Winnick was among those execs who amassed huge fortunes despite the industry's downturn. Overall, he cashed in more than $500 million on Global Crossing stock (see 2002 Top Ten: Fat Cats).
The board expects to elect independent directors Jeremiah D. Lambert and Myron E. Ullman, III, as co-chairmen of the board of directors, replacing Winnick and effective today
Winnick’s exit comes less than a week after the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that it does not have enough evidence to charge Global Crossing or its former chairman with fraud in connection with his stock sales and the carrier’s bankruptcy filing (see Winnick Subpoenaed).
“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 acknowledged in his letter to the Global Crossing Board yesterday.
“I deeply regret that so many good people involved with Global Crossing also suffered significant financial loss.”
“It’s a changing of the guard. Anyone who was associated with the chaos of the last year over there is going to be a constant reminder… You have to get rid of the distractions.”
