Global Crossing chairman quits


2 Jan 2003

Gary Winnick, chairman of troubled data carrier, Global Crossing, which has a €130m-plus contract with the Irish Government, has resigned from the company following complaints that he sold millions of dollars’ worth of company stock in advance of the company declaring bankruptcy.

Last month the company received court approval for a restructuring plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following negotiations that lasted almost a year.

Global Crossing has appointed two existing directors, Jeremiah Lambert and Myron Ullman, to co-chair the company.

The company initiated bankruptcy proceedings in January last year.

It is understood that the US firm paid a final installment of €7m under a €130m deal to provide state-of-the-art fibre connectivity that would link Ireland to the backbone of a global high-speed network.

At the time of announcing the creation of the link, the Government gave Global Crossing over €70m and so far only a few firms have expressed an interest in using the network.

Global Crossing is understood to have sold its Irish operations at Citywest to another US firm, Columbia Ventures.

By John Kennedy