Gary Winnick: If You've Got It, Spend It

In Los Angeles, a city known for extravagant spenders, Gary Winnick, the billionaire founder of telecom upstart Global Crossing Holdings Ltd., suddenly seems to have the fastest checkbook in town. In late August, Winnick, 52, agreed to pay what may be the highest price ever for a single-family home in the U.S., forking over $40 million to fellow mogul David H. Murdock for the old Hilton estate in Beverly Hills. In May, the Long Island (N.Y.) native gave $40 million to the Simon Wiesenthal Center to build a research facility and museum of tolerance in Jerusalem. Winnick insisted that world-renowned architect Frank O. Gehry design the building, which will be called the Winnick Institute.

He's hardly skimping when it comes to his business, either. Winnick is spending $9 million to renovate the former MCA building in Beverly Hills, which he bought in late 1998 with $41.5 million from his own bank account. The landmark 1938 structure will be leased to Global Crossing, as well as Winnick's Pacific Capital Group, a firm that invests in businesses ranging from telecoms to real estate. The building features a replica of the Oval Office, which Winnick now occupies. Meanwhile, in the nation's real capital, Global Crossing, its top executives, and several other employees have doled out more than $1.1 million to federal political campaigns this season. That earned the company the distinction of being California's top contributor.