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{{short description|American telecommunications entrepreneur}}
{{other people||Walter Anderson (disambiguation)}}
{{other people||Walter Anderson (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
'''Walter C. Anderson''' (born 1953) is an American entrepreneur, investor, and advocate for commercial space travel. He began his career in telecommunications and founded several companies including Mid-Atlantic Telecom in 1984 and Esprit Telecom in 1992, which were acquired by [[Frontier Communications]] and Global TeleSystems Group, respectively. He co-founded the [[International Space University]] and provided financial support for the [[Space Frontier Foundation]] during its creation. Anderson also invested in a number of space ventures including [[Rotary Rocket]], a company that attempted to develop a reusable, single-stage launch vehicle with the aid of helicopter rotors. He founded MirCorp, an unsuccessful venture to privatize the [[Mir]] space station, and Orbital Recovery Corporation, a company developing technology to capture and repair telecommunication satellites.


In the mid 2000s, Anderson pled guilty to charges of tax evasion and was sentenced to nine years in prison. After his release in 2012, he founded Avealto a company developing a fleet of [[high-altitude platforms]].
'''Walter C. Anderson''' (also known as '''Walter Anderson Crump''';<ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/news/Business/Billionaire-tax-dodger-craved-space-haven/2005/03/03/1109700606919.html?oneclick=true Billionaire tax dodger craved space haven] ''The Sidney Morning Herald''</ref> born 1953) is an [[United States|American]] telephone entrepreneur who was arrested and convicted in the largest [[tax evasion]] case in United States history.<ref name="WaPo1"/>


==Early life and career==
==Early life==
Walter C. Anderson<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=March 28, 2007|title=Entrepreneur Gets 9 Years in Tax Case|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/28/business/28tax.html|access-date=July 14, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> was born '''Walter Anderson Crump''' in 1953.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Johnston|first=David Cay|date=March 2, 2005|title=Man of Many Names Now Called No. 1 Tax Cheat|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/02/business/man-of-many-names-now-called-no-1-tax-cheat.html|access-date=July 14, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Weil|first=Elizabeth|date=July 23, 2000|title=American Megamillionaire Gets Russki Space Heap!|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000723mag-millionaire.html|access-date=July 14, 2021|website=The New York Times}}</ref> He grew up in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name=":2" />
Anderson grew up in [[Silver Spring, Maryland]].<ref name="WaPo1">Hilzenrath, David S., [[Carol D. Leonnig]], and Yuki Noguchi. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A5506-2005Mar3?language=printer Tax Case Defendant Says Money Was to Do Good]. ''[[The Washington Post]]''. March 4, 2005.</ref> He later moved to [[Fairfax, Virginia]], where he graduated from Woodson High School in 1971. He did not graduate from college, though he spent some time at a number of institutions, including the [[University of Richmond]], [[Northern Virginia Community College]], and [[George Mason University]].<ref name="WaPo1"/>


==Career==
Anderson began his [[telecommunications]] career as a [[sales]]man at [[MCI Communications]] in 1979. He entered into entrepreneurship in the 1980s and 1990s, during which he heavily invested in several telecom companies, which were later sold for large profits.<ref name="WaPo1"/> Anderson bankrolled many early [[Private spaceflight|private space ventures]] and paved the way for the "[[astropreneurs]]" who followed. His most high-profile space investment was [[MirCorp]], the 1990s start-up that briefly privatised Russia's aging [[Mir space station]]. He reportedly pumped as much as $30 million into the venture. He also invested into [[Rotary Rocket]].


Anderson began his career in the telecommunications industry at [[MCI Communications]] in 1979.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Hilzenrath|first1=David S.|last2=Leonnig|first2=Carol D.|last3=Noguchi|first3=Yuki|date=March 4, 2005|title=Tax Case Defendant Says Money Was to Do Good|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2005/03/04/tax-case-defendant-says-money-was-to-do-good/b3e4830f-3d6d-4b39-8a0f-731be1f9467d/|access-date=July 14, 2021}}</ref> He founded Mid-Atlantic Telecom in 1984.<ref name=":2" /> Mid-Atlantic Telecom was a long-distance telephone service carrier. The company was the first to combine telephone and voicemail services.<ref name=":2" /> Anderson served as president and chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Telecom until the early 1990s<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Gunning|first=Thomas P.|date=July 17, 2001|title=FORM 10-K/A: Covista Communications Inc. SEC Filings|url=https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/Stock/CVST/SecFilings?subview=secarticle&sid=313141&guid=1592054&type=1|access-date=July 14, 2021|website=MarketWatch|publisher=Covista Communications Inc.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Hilzenrath|first=David S.|date=April 18, 2005|title=$200,000,000|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/2005/04/18/200000000/d0982ff4-e313-4c07-a3a1-8519b5d3ad3a/|access-date=July 14, 2021}}</ref> when the company was acquired by [[Rochester Telephone Corporation]] (now [[Frontier Communications]]).<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite news|last=Knight|first=Jerry|date=December 9, 1998|title=Mclean Firm to Acquire Esprit Telecom|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1998/12/09/mclean-firm-to-acquire-esprit-telecom/cfb400ad-d89c-47d6-9bc0-019d2b454c8e/|access-date=July 14, 2021}}</ref>
==Commercial space support and advocacy==


In 1988, Anderson co-founded the [[International Space University]] as an early investor.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|last=Hill|first=Jeffrey|date=June 2021|title=Global Entrepreneurs Practice Their Pitches for Startup Space 2021|url=http://interactive.satellitetoday.com/via/june-2021/global-entrepreneurs-practice-their-pitches-for-startup-space-2021/|access-date=July 14, 2021|website=Via Satellite}}</ref> He provided financial support for the [[Space Frontier Foundation]] during its creation in 1991.<ref name=":2" /> The following year, he founded Esprit Telecom based in London,<ref name=":4" /> taking advantage of early telecom deregulation in the U.K.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|date=May 2021|title=After Loon. Can HAPs Rise Again?|journal=Satellite Mobility World|volume=6|issue=5|pages=20–26}}</ref> Anderson served as chairman of the company until November 1998.<ref name=":3" /> The following month, Global TeleSystems Group, a US publicly traded company, acquired Esprit for nearly $1 billion.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> Anderson was also a major shareholder of Telco Communications Group before its acquisition by [[Excel Communications]] for $1.2 billion.<ref name=":4" />
In 1988, Anderson became an early backer of the [[International Space University]] (ISU) through [[Peter Diamandis]]. Anderson provided funding and advice to the founding team and in 1992 was awarded the distinction of ISU Associate Founder along with eleven other critical supporters.


In the mid to late 1990s, Anderson was an early investor in Erol's Internet, which expanded into one of the largest [[Dial-up Internet access|dial-up ISPs]]. Erol's was acquired by [[RCN Corporation]] in 1998, netting Anderson stock in RCN worth $25 million.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Knight|first=Jerry|date=January 26, 1998|title=In Bypassing an Ipo, Erol's Grabs an Offer Too Good to Refuse|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1998/01/26/in-bypassing-an-ipo-erols-grabs-an-offer-too-good-to-refuse/977b9d39-63e2-4408-a373-110d39dd7e31/|access-date=July 14, 2021}}</ref> The same year, Anderson became chairman of Worldxchange Communications. He served in the position until December 2000 when the company was sold to World Access. He also served as chairman of Covista Communications from 1999 to 2001.<ref name=":3" />
ISU was founded in 1987 and held its first summer session program (SSP) in the summer of 1988 at the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The ISU operates a multicultural and multidisciplinary graduate space studies program. ISU has held SSPs annually in varying locations around the world since the inaugural 1988 session. In 1995 it began offering a Masters program from its permanent campus in [[Strasbourg]], [[France]]. Anderson was a permanent member and served on its Board of Directors for its initial five years of operations.


Anderson had been an ardent supporter of the development of commercial space activities. He was an early-stage investor in many private space ventures in the 1990s and early 2000s, and one of the first "astropreneurs".<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|date=September 5, 2007|title=Top 10 influential space thinkers|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19526201-400-top-10-influential-space-thinkers/|access-date=July 14, 2021|website=New Scientist|language=en-US}}</ref> His highest-profile space investment was MirCorp, the late 1990s start-up that briefly privatized Russia's aging [[Mir]] space station.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Johnson|first=Sandra|date=August 4, 2015|title=Jeffrey Manber Oral History|url=https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/ISS/ManberJ/ManberJ_8-4-15.htm|access-date=July 14, 2021|website=Johnson Space Center|publisher=NASA}}</ref> He reportedly invested as much as $30 million into the venture.<ref name=":7" /> From 1996 and 1999, Anderson was also an investor in [[Rotary Rocket]],<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite web|last=David|first=Leonard|date=October 16, 2013|title=How Late Author Tom Clancy Supported Private Spaceflight|url=https://www.space.com/23222-tom-clancy-private-spaceflight-supporter.html|access-date=July 14, 2021|website=Space.com|language=en}}</ref> a now-defunct venture to develop a reusable [[single-stage-to-orbit]] crewed [[spacecraft]] that hoped to combine the rotors of a helicopter with rocketry to achieve orbit.<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Schonfeld|first=Erick|date=March 20, 2000|title=Going Long One thing stands in the way of a thriving private space industry: finding a cheap way to get there. It ain't for lack of trying.|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/03/20/276385/index.htm|access-date=July 14, 2021|website=CNN Money}}</ref> In the early 2000s, Anderson also founded and served as CEO of Orbital Recovery Corporation,<ref name=":1" /> a company developing technology to capture and repair telecommunication satellites.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Knight|first=Will|date=September 2, 2002|title=Space tug could revive sleeping satellites|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2746-space-tug-could-revive-sleeping-satellites/|access-date=July 14, 2021|website=New Scientist|language=en-US}}</ref>
Anderson has been a leader in promoting the commercial development of space. He believes that the development of space resources can help to resolve many of the challenges facing the entire planet. He was a major supporter of the [[Space Frontier Foundation]] from its founding in 1988. He also created and endowed the [[Foundation for the Nongovernmental Development of Space]], which has provided funding for projects such as the "asteroid watch" and sponsored the [[CATS Prize]] (Cheap Access To Space).


In the mid 2000s, he was accused of not reporting income from investments in non-US companies.<ref name=":0" /> Anderson was arrested on February 26, 2005, at [[Dulles International Airport]] as he was returning from [[London]].<ref name="MSNBC">{{Cite web|last=Williams|first=Pete|author-link=Pete Williams (journalist)|date=February 28, 2005|title=Entrepreneur accused of biggest-ever tax scam|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7046153|access-date=July 14, 2021|website=NBC News|language=en}}</ref><ref name="WaPo2">{{Cite news|last=Weiss|first=Eric M.|date=September 9, 2006|title=Telecom Mogul Guilty of Tax Scam|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/08/AR2006090801126.html|access-date=July 14, 2021}}</ref> He was held in the Washington, D.C. jail for more than 2 years,<ref name=":0" /> before he pled guilty to some of the charges against him in September 2006.<ref name="WaPo2" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Duck|first=Jennifer|date=September 8, 2006|others=Associated Press|title=Biggest Tax Cheat Ever Pleads Guilty|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/IndustryInfo/story?id=2411264&page=1|access-date=July 14, 2021|website=ABC News|language=en}}</ref> He was sentenced to nine years in prison in March 2007.<ref name=":0" /> In June 2007, federal district judge [[Paul L. Friedman]] ruled that Anderson would not have to pay any restitution to the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] due to a [[typographical error]] by the government in the plea agreement but Anderson would still have to pay restitution to the District of Columbia government.<ref>{{Cite news|date=June 15, 2007|title=Judge can't fix government's $100 million boo-boo|work=CNN|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/06/15/big.mistake.ap/index.html|url-status=dead|access-date=July 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713233050/http://www.cnn.com:80/2007/LAW/06/15/big.mistake.ap/index.html|archive-date=July 13, 2007}}</ref> Anderson was released at the end of 2012 after serving the last few months of his term at home in Virginia.<ref>{{Cite web|last=McElhatton|first=Jim|date=August 30, 2012|title=Nearing end of sentence, top tax evader still eyes vindication|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/aug/30/nearing-end-of-sentence-top-tax-evader-still-eyes-/|access-date=July 14, 2021|website=The Washington Times|language=en-US}}</ref>
==MirCorp==
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2020}}
Anderson had been an ardent supporter of the development of commercial space activities.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} He cofounded [[International Space University]] with Peter Diamandis, Todd Hawley and Bob Richards. The organization has a permanent campus at Strasbourg, France.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} The international Space University celebrated its 25th anniversary on October 23, 2012.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} Anderson provided significant funding to not-for-profit [[Space Frontier Foundation]] and served on their Board of Directors.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}}


In September 2007, Anderson was named by the New Scientist as one of the "Top 10 Influential Space Thinkers".<ref name=":7" /> He was also featured in ''[[Orphans of Apollo]]'', a documentary about MirCorp.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Foust|first=Jeff|date=July 28, 2008|title=Preview: Orphans of Apollo|url=https://thespacereview.com/article/1176/1|access-date=July 14, 2021|website=The Space Review}}</ref>
NASA actively resisted any cooperation with the [[Roscosmos State Corporation|Russian Space Agency]] and the Russian corporation, [[S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia|RSC Energia]], which was the owner of the [[Mir|Mir space station]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} In 1999, the Russian government and RSC Energia were suffering severe financial difficulties.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} They could no longer support the Mir. Anderson negotiated a "lease" of the Mir station on behalf of MirCorp, a company which he founded, and began plans to commercial and renovate the Mir.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}}


In 2013, Anderson founded Avealto Ltd., based in the UK. Avealto was founded to finance, construct and operate a fleet of [[high-altitude platforms]].<ref name=":5" /> Since then, the company has gained an airworthiness certification for the FAA for a 28-meter-long test vehicle.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> The final design developed by Anderson and co-founder David Chambers is a 100-meter-long helium airship with a payload of telecommunications equipment. The airship would float in a stationary position guided by GPS tracking.<ref name=":6" />
MirCorp signed up the first commercial space tourist to travel to the Mir station.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} MirCorp was preparing for a public offering which was supported by [[Barclays Investment Bank|Barclays Capital]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} The funds from the offering would be used to refurbish and expand the Mir station for commercial operations which would include media, manufacturing, orbit servicing and science activities. MirCorp launched the first "private manned mission" in history to the Mir to evaluate its condition and do some minor upgrades.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}}

The NASA administrator made a number of public comments related to MirCorp commercial activities.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} He claimed that MirCorp was utilizing resources which the Russian Space Agency and RSC Energia had committed to the International Space Station.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}}
NASA and the United States government pressured the Russian Space Agency to [[Atmospheric entry|de-orbit]] the Mir and used both political and financial pressure.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} NASA officials made calls to United States corporations involved in space activities to warn them not to partner with or invest in MirCorp if they ever wanted to get another contract.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} In April 2001, the Mir was de-orbited into the Pacific Ocean. MirCorp was only four months away from the planned date of their public offering at that time.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}}The MirCorp story is profiled in the documentary film ''[[Orphans of Apollo]]''. <ref name=Foust>{{cite journal|last=Foust|first=Jeff|title=Preview: Orphans of Apollo|journal=The Space Review|date=July 20, 2008|url=http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1176/1|accessdate=30 January 2013}}</ref>

==Federal tax convictions==

The United States government conducted an extensive investigation into Mr. Anderson's business and personal activities.

Anderson was arrested on February 26, 2005, at [[Dulles International Airport]] as he was returning from [[London]].<ref name="MSNBC">[[Pete Williams (journalist)|Williams, Pete]].[http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7046153 Entrepreneur accused of biggest-ever tax scam]. ''[[NBC News]]''. March 3, 2005.</ref><ref name="WaPo2">Weiss, Eric M. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/08/AR2006090801126.html Telecom Mogul Guilty of Tax Scam]. ''[[The Washington Post]]''. September 9, 2006.</ref> He was accused of hiding his wealth in off-shore companies in [[Panama]] and the [[British Virgin Islands]] in an attempt to avoid taxation on his income. The Federal District Court of the District of Columbia later determined that Anderson did not have substantial financial resources. The companies that Mr. Anderson managed reportedly earned nearly $500 million in revenue during a five-year period.<ref name="MSNBC"/>

Anderson was held in the Washington, D.C. jail for over 2 years.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}} The prosecutors claimed he was a flight risk and asked the judge to hold him without bail. On September 8, 2006, Anderson pleaded guilty to two felony counts of evading federal income tax (for filing tax returns in which he failed to report over $126,303,951 of income for year 1998 and over $238,561,316 of income for year 1999) under {{usc|26|7201}} and one felony count of defrauding the [[District of Columbia]] under section 3221(a) of title 22 of the District of Columbia Code.<ref>See generally ''United States v. Anderson'', case no. 1:05-cr-00066-PLF-1, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, on counts 5, 6, and 11 of the Superseding Indictment at docket entry 68.</ref><ref>For more detail, see also ''United States v. Walter Anderson'', 545 F.3d 1072 (D.C. Cir. 2008), at [https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?q=tax+%22Walter+Anderson%22&hl=en&as_sdt=3,44&case=3154193258055848311&scilh=0].</ref> As part of the plea agreement, Anderson admitted to hiding $365 million of income by using aliases, shell companies, offshore tax havens, and secret accounts. For the year 1998, the year for which Anderson admitted to having earned more than $126 million, he had claimed an income of $67,939 on his federal income tax return, for which he had paid only $495 in taxes.<ref name="WaPo2"/> Soon after he pleaded guilty, he was sent to a minimum security facility.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}}

On June 15, 2007, [[United States federal judge|federal district judge]] Paul L. Friedman ruled that Anderson would not have to pay $100 to $175 million of his restitution to the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] due to a [[typographical error]] by the government in the plea agreement. In his ruling, Friedman stated that he did not have the authority to "read something into a contract that is not there or to interpret uncertain language in the government's favor". Anderson will still have to pay $23 million in restitution to the District of Columbia government, and the government may sue for the difference in civil court.
<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/06/15/big.mistake.ap/index.html Judge can't fix government's $100 million boo-boo]. ''[[Associated Press]]''. June 15, 2007.</ref>

According to a web site entitled "JusticeForWalt": "On June 12, 2009 the Tax Court issued an ORDER [sic] accepting the [[Internal Revenue Service|IRS]] decision to conceded [sic] all the tax and penalty issue for 1995, 1996 and 1997. The [http://www.justiceforwalt.com/Records/090612_order.pdf ORDER] indicated that a judgment for those years would be entered in Walter Anderson's favor." <ref>http://www.justiceforwalt.com/ JusticeForWalt website</ref>

On March 7, 2011, the U.S. Tax Court issued a [https://www.scribd.com/doc/51752499/Anderson-Tax-Court-Mar-7-2011 decision] ordering Walter Anderson to pay $141,497,773 in tax deficiencies and $105,984,341 in penalties for a total of $247,482,114 owed to the IRS. Additional interest on the $247,482,114 Anderson owes could amount to an estimated [http://federaltaxcrimes.blogspot.com/2011/02/walter-anderson-fight-continues.html#more $248,962,929].<ref>http://federaltaxcrimes.blogspot.com/2011/02/walter-anderson-fight-continues.html#more Federal Tax Crimes Blog</ref>

On September 7, 2012, the [[United States Court of Appeals]] for the Third Circuit upheld the Tax Court's March 7, 2012 ruling against Walter Anderson "determining civil tax deficiencies and fraud penalties for tax years 1995 through 1999".<ref name="September 2012 Tax Notes Today">{{cite journal | title=THIRD CIRCUIT UPHOLDS TAX COURT DECISION AGAINST TAX EVADER WALTER ANDERSON. (Section 6663 -- Fraud Penalty) (Release Date: SEPTEMBER 07, 2012) (Doc 2012-18801) | author=Kroh, Eric | journal=Tax Analysts |date=September 2012 | issue=2012 TNT 175-7}}</ref> The Third Circuit held "that his arguments were without merit."<ref name="September 2012 Tax Notes Today"/>

CNBC television program [https://www.cnbc.com/id/42192642 "The American Tax Cheat,"] April 14, 2011, featured Walter Anderson speaking in an interview from federal prison.<ref>https://www.cnbc.com/id/42192642 CNBC TV "The American Tax Cheat"</ref>

He was released on December 28, 2012.<ref>Inmate #27981-016, Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Dep't of Justice, at [http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=IDSearch&needingMoreList=false&IDType=IRN&IDNumber=27981-016&x=101&y=18].</ref>

==See also==
* ''[[Orphans of Apollo]]'', a space documentary mentioning Walter Anderson.
* [http://www.thespaceshow.com/guest.asp?q=201 Walter Anderson on ''The Space Show''], 5 broadcasts with Walter Anderson as the guest.


==References==
==References==
Line 57: Line 29:


==External links==
==External links==
* [https://avealto.com/walt-anderson-founder-ceo/ About Walt Anderson] on the Avealto website
* [http://www.isunet.edu International Space University] official website


{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Walter}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Walter}}
[[Category:American people convicted of tax crimes]]
[[Category:American telecommunications industry businesspeople]]
[[Category:American communications businesspeople]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Businesspeople in telecommunications]]
[[Category:University of Richmond alumni]]
[[Category:George Mason University alumni]]
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American businesspeople convicted of crimes]]
[[Category:American businesspeople convicted of crimes]]
[[Category:American people convicted of tax crimes]]
[[Category:American prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government]]

Latest revision as of 11:23, 29 January 2024

For other people with the same name, see Walter Anderson (disambiguation).

Walter C. Anderson (born 1953) is an American entrepreneur, investor, and advocate for commercial space travel. He began his career in telecommunications and founded several companies including Mid-Atlantic Telecom in 1984 and Esprit Telecom in 1992, which were acquired by Frontier Communications and Global TeleSystems Group, respectively. He co-founded the International Space University and provided financial support for the Space Frontier Foundation during its creation. Anderson also invested in a number of space ventures including Rotary Rocket, a company that attempted to develop a reusable, single-stage launch vehicle with the aid of helicopter rotors. He founded MirCorp, an unsuccessful venture to privatize the Mir space station, and Orbital Recovery Corporation, a company developing technology to capture and repair telecommunication satellites.

In the mid 2000s, Anderson pled guilty to charges of tax evasion and was sentenced to nine years in prison. After his release in 2012, he founded Avealto a company developing a fleet of high-altitude platforms.

Early life

[edit]

Walter C. Anderson[1] was born Walter Anderson Crump in 1953.[2][3] He grew up in Washington, D.C.[3]

Career

[edit]

Anderson began his career in the telecommunications industry at MCI Communications in 1979.[4] He founded Mid-Atlantic Telecom in 1984.[3] Mid-Atlantic Telecom was a long-distance telephone service carrier. The company was the first to combine telephone and voicemail services.[3] Anderson served as president and chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Telecom until the early 1990s[5][6] when the company was acquired by Rochester Telephone Corporation (now Frontier Communications).[2][7]

In 1988, Anderson co-founded the International Space University as an early investor.[3][8] He provided financial support for the Space Frontier Foundation during its creation in 1991.[3] The following year, he founded Esprit Telecom based in London,[7] taking advantage of early telecom deregulation in the U.K.[9] Anderson served as chairman of the company until November 1998.[5] The following month, Global TeleSystems Group, a US publicly traded company, acquired Esprit for nearly $1 billion.[3][7] Anderson was also a major shareholder of Telco Communications Group before its acquisition by Excel Communications for $1.2 billion.[7]

In the mid to late 1990s, Anderson was an early investor in Erol's Internet, which expanded into one of the largest dial-up ISPs. Erol's was acquired by RCN Corporation in 1998, netting Anderson stock in RCN worth $25 million.[10] The same year, Anderson became chairman of Worldxchange Communications. He served in the position until December 2000 when the company was sold to World Access. He also served as chairman of Covista Communications from 1999 to 2001.[5]

Anderson had been an ardent supporter of the development of commercial space activities. He was an early-stage investor in many private space ventures in the 1990s and early 2000s, and one of the first "astropreneurs".[11] His highest-profile space investment was MirCorp, the late 1990s start-up that briefly privatized Russia's aging Mir space station.[3][12] He reportedly invested as much as $30 million into the venture.[11] From 1996 and 1999, Anderson was also an investor in Rotary Rocket,[3][13] a now-defunct venture to develop a reusable single-stage-to-orbit crewed spacecraft that hoped to combine the rotors of a helicopter with rocketry to achieve orbit.[13][14] In the early 2000s, Anderson also founded and served as CEO of Orbital Recovery Corporation,[2] a company developing technology to capture and repair telecommunication satellites.[15]

In the mid 2000s, he was accused of not reporting income from investments in non-US companies.[1] Anderson was arrested on February 26, 2005, at Dulles International Airport as he was returning from London.[16][17] He was held in the Washington, D.C. jail for more than 2 years,[1] before he pled guilty to some of the charges against him in September 2006.[17][18] He was sentenced to nine years in prison in March 2007.[1] In June 2007, federal district judge Paul L. Friedman ruled that Anderson would not have to pay any restitution to the federal government due to a typographical error by the government in the plea agreement but Anderson would still have to pay restitution to the District of Columbia government.[19] Anderson was released at the end of 2012 after serving the last few months of his term at home in Virginia.[20]

In September 2007, Anderson was named by the New Scientist as one of the "Top 10 Influential Space Thinkers".[11] He was also featured in Orphans of Apollo, a documentary about MirCorp.[21]

In 2013, Anderson founded Avealto Ltd., based in the UK. Avealto was founded to finance, construct and operate a fleet of high-altitude platforms.[8] Since then, the company has gained an airworthiness certification for the FAA for a 28-meter-long test vehicle.[8][9] The final design developed by Anderson and co-founder David Chambers is a 100-meter-long helium airship with a payload of telecommunications equipment. The airship would float in a stationary position guided by GPS tracking.[9]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Entrepreneur Gets 9 Years in Tax Case". The New York Times. March 28, 2007. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Johnston, David Cay (March 2, 2005). "Man of Many Names Now Called No. 1 Tax Cheat". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Weil, Elizabeth (July 23, 2000). "American Megamillionaire Gets Russki Space Heap!". The New York Times. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  4. ^ Hilzenrath, David S.; Leonnig, Carol D.; Noguchi, Yuki (March 4, 2005). "Tax Case Defendant Says Money Was to Do Good". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Gunning, Thomas P. (July 17, 2001). "FORM 10-K/A: Covista Communications Inc. SEC Filings". MarketWatch. Covista Communications Inc. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  6. ^ Hilzenrath, David S. (April 18, 2005). "$200,000,000". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d Knight, Jerry (December 9, 1998). "Mclean Firm to Acquire Esprit Telecom". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c Hill, Jeffrey (June 2021). "Global Entrepreneurs Practice Their Pitches for Startup Space 2021". Via Satellite. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c "After Loon. Can HAPs Rise Again?". Satellite Mobility World. 6 (5): 20–26. May 2021.
  10. ^ Knight, Jerry (January 26, 1998). "In Bypassing an Ipo, Erol's Grabs an Offer Too Good to Refuse". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c "Top 10 influential space thinkers". New Scientist. September 5, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  12. ^ Johnson, Sandra (August 4, 2015). "Jeffrey Manber Oral History". Johnson Space Center. NASA. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  13. ^ a b David, Leonard (October 16, 2013). "How Late Author Tom Clancy Supported Private Spaceflight". Space.com. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  14. ^ Schonfeld, Erick (March 20, 2000). "Going Long One thing stands in the way of a thriving private space industry: finding a cheap way to get there. It ain't for lack of trying". CNN Money. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  15. ^ Knight, Will (September 2, 2002). "Space tug could revive sleeping satellites". New Scientist. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  16. ^ Williams, Pete (February 28, 2005). "Entrepreneur accused of biggest-ever tax scam". NBC News. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  17. ^ a b Weiss, Eric M. (September 9, 2006). "Telecom Mogul Guilty of Tax Scam". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  18. ^ Duck, Jennifer (September 8, 2006). "Biggest Tax Cheat Ever Pleads Guilty". ABC News. Associated Press. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  19. ^ "Judge can't fix government's $100 million boo-boo". CNN. Associated Press. June 15, 2007. Archived from the original on July 13, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  20. ^ McElhatton, Jim (August 30, 2012). "Nearing end of sentence, top tax evader still eyes vindication". The Washington Times. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  21. ^ Foust, Jeff (July 28, 2008). "Preview: Orphans of Apollo". The Space Review. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
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