The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Barrick Gold's visionary founder Peter Munk, a man of lofty global ambitions who fulfilled them like few others, died Wednesday at the age of 90. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe says that Mr. Munk racked up an impressive series of accomplishments in everything from custom stereos to tropical resorts. Mr. Munk will always be most known for Barrick Gold. He was born in Budapest in 1927 and fled Hungary with his family in 1944 when Nazi Germany invaded. He arrived in Toronto in 1948 at the age of 20 and undertook a number of business activities before founding Barrick in 1983. His career in mining began with a small Ontario underground mine producing 3,000 ounces of gold a year. Barrick's biggest break came in 1986, when Mr. Munk bought an underperforming mine in Nevada called Goldstrike, which was then producing 40,000 ounces of gold a year. Before long, the mine was producing more than two million ounces a year and remains one of the company's core mines. Mr. Munk would continue to buy mines and take over companies. By 2006, Barrick would established itself as the world's biggest gold producer after gobbling up miner Placer Dome for $10.4-billion (U.S.).