Global Crossing to Leave Beverly Hills

Three weeks after filing the fifth-largest bankruptcy case in U.S. history, Global Crossing Ltd. is expected to announce as soon as today that it will vacate its tony executive offices in Beverly Hills, according to employees briefed on the decision.

Since millionaire investment manager Gary Winnick founded the telecommunications company in 1997, its opulent offices in the heart of Beverly Hills have been symbolic of the company’s grand vision to build a worldwide undersea fiber-optic network. They have been a source of personal pride for Winnick, who directed the building’s vast renovation.

Even as the bulk of Global Crossing’s employees and executive staff have migrated to the East Coast, Winnick has maintained the Beverly Hills address, where his personal office is a replica of the White House’s Oval Office, and the furniture is worthy of a five-star hotel.

The company’s official headquarters is in Hamilton, Bermuda.

The about 60 employees who currently work in Beverly Hills will be shifted to vacant office space Global Crossing currently leases in El Segundo and Woodland Hills.

The move will save the financially struggling company about $400,000 a month in rent, according to the most recent figures filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

It also will rid the company of an uncomfortable conflict of interest. The building is owned by Winnick’s investment firm, Pacific Capital Group. Global Crossing actually pays its rent to North Crescent Realty V, which is managed by Pacific Capital.

Winnick, the company’s chairman, and Dan Cohrs, the chief financial officer, are the only top executives who have remained in Beverly Hills, in a building shared with Pacific Capital.

Winnick and Cohrs intend to stay, according to a Global Crossing employee.

Chief Executive John Legere maintains an office in Beverly Hills, but spends most of his time in the company’s Madison, N.J., offices. It is unclear what will happen to employees of Asia Global Crossing, a subsidiary with about 35 employees at the site.

The decision to close the office is not seen as a precursor to additional layoffs in Beverly Hills, where the staff has already shrunk dramatically, the employee said. At its height, the office accommodated about 250 employees.

Employees throughout the company are bracing for another round of payroll cuts to help trim expenses. Executives have signaled that more cuts are on the way.

The Beverly Hills office, an ornate building modeled after an Italian villa, has already been scaled back in recent months as the telecom firm drifted toward bankruptcy. The company-subsidized cafeteria, known for preparing lavish meals, was closed before Christmas.

Rumors the company would leave Beverly Hills have been circulating at least since then, insiders say. The decision to vacate may have been accelerated by the Jan. 28 bankruptcy protection filing.

Pacific Capital paid $41.5 million to purchase the ornate former MCA building and installed its name in gold on the green metal gates.