Startec chief Maniyar dies of cancer

Prabhav Maniyar, the Indian origin chief executive officer of telecommunications firm Startec Global Communicatons Corp has died of cancer in Virginia.  Startec is a facilities-based provider of communications services, including voice, data and Internet access.

Maniyar, who died on Monday, had joined Startec in 1997. As chief financial officer, Maniyar and founder Ram Mukunda took the company public in 1997 in a $60 million stock offering.

In December 2001, the company filed for protection from creditors while it reorganised under bankruptcy law. Maniyar became chief executive, president and chairman when the firm emerged from bankruptcy proceedings in May, 2003 more than two years later.

He was a charter member of the Indian High Tech CEO Council and The Indian Enterpreneurs and a board member of Net Commerce Corp.

Maniyar was born in Ahmedabad, came to the US in 1962 and grew up in Newport News, Virginia. He received an undergraduate degree in economics from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1982 and a master's degree in economics from Old Dominion University in 1985.

In 1985, he was recruited into the executive training programme of NatinsBank (now Bank of America), when he went to work in corporate finance. He advanced through several levels to manage a group responsible for financing technology companies in the Mid-Atlantic region.