Gary Winnick, a former junk-bond salesman who in 1997 founded Global Crossing, a telecommunications company that laid fiber-optic cable underwater around the world to speed internet and phone traffic, but that imploded five years later under billions of dollars in debt, died on Saturday at his estate in Los Angeles.
His son Matthew confirmed the death but said he did not know the cause.
Mr. Winnick received renewed attention in June when his estate, in the Bel Air neighborhood, was put up for sale for $250 million.
Mr. Winnick started Global Crossing without a background in telecommunications but with an ambitious goal: to build the world’s first privately financed global fiber-optic network.
Mr. Winnick was certain that by spending $15 billion on the network, he had found the right business at the right time.
Persons:
Gary Winnick, Matthew, Winnick
Organizations:
Bel Air, Telephone
Locations:
Los Angeles