Wikipedia

Gary Winnick

This article is about the financier. For the game developer, see Gary Winnick (game developer). For the filmmaker, see Gary Winick.

Gary Winnick (October 13, 1947 – November 4, 2023) was an American billionaire businessman, industrialist, and investment banker.[1] He was the chairman and CEO of Winnick & Company, a private equity firm that he originally established as Pacific Capital Group in 1985.[2] He founded WCO Spectrum in 2020, which invests in wireless spectrum licenses in the United States.[3][4]

Gary Winnick
Winnick in 2012
Born(1947-10-13)October 13, 1947
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 4, 2023(2023-11-04) (aged 76)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
EducationB.A. C.W. Post College, Long Island University (LIU Post)
OccupationFinancier
Known forSenior Vice President, Drexel Burnham Lambert, Founder and Chairman, Global Crossing, Chairman, Winnick & Company
SpouseKaren Winnick
Children3

Early life

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Winnick was raised in a Jewish family on Long Island, New York. A son of Blanche and Arnold Winnick,[5] his father owned a restaurant supply business in the greater New York Metropolitan Area.

Winnick’s first business was a snow-removal operation when he was 12 years old, employing other children in his neighborhood to clear local roads and driveways.

Winnick attended public schools in Long Island and graduated from Roslyn High School in Roslyn, New York, in 1965. He attended CW Post College, graduating in 1969.[6][7]

Investment career

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Winnick’s first job in financial services was as a bond salesman with Drexel Burnham Lambert. In 1978, he joined the staff of Michael Milken at Drexel's high-yield bond operation in California.[8][9]

Winnick’s work at Drexel provided initial capital and mid-cap financing to new U.S. companies in the fields of telecommunications, healthcare and gaming. Winnick is also credited with proposing the design of the California unit's X-shaped trading desk in Beverly Hills.

In 1985, Winnick founded a private equity firm.

In 1996, Winnick formed a partnership with the AFL-CIO that was responsible for recovering the Playa Vista development in Los Angeles, a large planned community to be established on the Westside of Los Angeles.[10]

Global Crossing

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In 1998, Winnick founded Global Crossing, an early global fiber optic network company which by 1999 was valued at $20 billion dollars.[11] The company owned and managed a network of fiberoptics in more than 50 countries and connections to more than 70 countries in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.[12]

The company filed for bankruptcy in 2002 amid allegations of accounting fraud and other financial irregularities. Winnick was not charged in relation to the bankruptcy,[13] and he settled a lawsuit related to the case for $55 million without admitting guilt.[14]

Winnick was investigated for insider trading regarding Global Crossing.[13] It was alleged that he sold large amounts of his Global Crossing stock while having non-public information about the company's financial troubles and impending bankruptcy. These stock sales attracted scrutiny from regulators and investors, who claimed that he benefited personally while other shareholders suffered significant losses.[15]

Winnick and other executives at the company were accused of providing misleading information to investors. It was alleged that they downplayed the company's financial problems and painted an overly positive picture of its prospects, which led some investors to make ill-informed decisions.[16]

Winnick and other executives were also criticized for their excessive compensation packages, with CNN Money describing him as an "emperor of greed" for using Global Crossing as his "personal bank account".[17]

Personal life

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Winnick was married to Karen B. Winnick, chairman of the Los Angeles Zoo Commission and author of children's books. The couple had three children and eight grandchildren.[citation needed]

In 2000, Winnick and his wife purchased and restored "Casa Encantada", the former Conrad Hilton estate – a 40,000-square-foot, 1930s-era trophy property in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles.[18][19]

Winnick died at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, on November 4, 2023, at the age of 76.[20]

Philanthropy and awards

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The Winnick Family Foundation is a charitable foundation started by Karen B. Winnick and Gary Winnick in 1983.[21]

In May 2000, Gary Winnick received the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Humanitarian Laureate Award.[22]

Winnick received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University.[23]

References

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  1. ^ "The $20 billion crumb". Forbes. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  2. ^ "Gary Winnick, Winnick & Company: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  3. ^ Dano, Mike (July 15, 2022). "Gary Winnick takes aim at spectrum licenses". lightreading.com.
  4. ^ Hardesty, Linda (February 3, 2023). "T-Mobile clashes with 2.5 GHz spectrum owners". fiercewireless.com.
  5. ^ "Gary Winnick Steps Out Front | Articles | Jewish Journal". May 4, 2016. Archived from the original on May 4, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ "LIU Magazine - Fall 2014 by Long Island University - Issuu". issuu.com. September 19, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  7. ^ Pollak, Michael; Arenson, Karen W. (May 17, 2000). "BULLETIN BOARD". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  8. ^ "Wealthiest Angelenos". Los Angeles Business Journal. May 26, 2002. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  9. ^ "LA500". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  10. ^ Sanchez, Jesus (January 24, 1997). "Playa Vista Project: Union of Cash, Flash?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  11. ^ "The $20 billion crumb". Forbes. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  12. ^ Friedman, Thomas L. (2007). The world is flat : a brief history of the twenty-first century. Internet Archive. New York : Picador/Farrar, Straus and Giroux : Distributed by Holtzbrinck Publishers. ISBN 978-0-312-42507-4.
  13. ^ a b Gaither, Chris (December 14, 2004). "Founder Escapes Charges in Global Crossing Failure". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  14. ^ Lashinsky, Adam (October 28, 2002). "The Rise and Fall of Gary Winnick". Fortune. p. 1. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
  15. ^ Kristof, Kathy M.; Friedman, Josh (October 28, 2005). "Indictment Hints at Winnick". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  16. ^ Romero, Geraldine Fabrikant With Simon (February 11, 2002). "How Executives Prospered as Global Crossing Collapsed". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  17. ^ "The Emperor Of Greed With the help of his bankers, Gary Winnick treated Global Crossing as his personal cash cow--until the company went bankrupt. - June 24, 2002". money.cnn.com. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  18. ^ Cormack, Rachel (October 28, 2019). "Inside the Legendary $225 Million Casa Encantada in Bel-Air, California". Robb Report. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  19. ^ Beale, Lauren (February 20, 2013). "Bel-Air estate is said to be for sale at $225 million". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  20. ^ "Gary Winnick, Global Crossing founder and once L.A.'s richest man, dies at 76". The Los Angeles Times. November 7, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  21. ^ authors (January 22, 2001). "The 2000 Slate 60: The 60 largest American charitable contributions of 2000". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  22. ^ Tugend, Tom (May 4, 2000). "A New Museum". Jewish Journal. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  23. ^ "LIU Alumni Magazine: 2016 Year in Review by Long Island University - Issuu". issuu.com. December 20, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
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