Free Republic

MIDTOWN — A prominent financier who lost millions in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme leapt to his death from a Midtown hotel Monday afternoon, according to police sources and reports.

Visium Asset Management, a multibillion dollar hedge fund, has imploded in the biggest scandal to hit the industry in years. The fund told investors of its plan to close in a letter Friday. It’s the most high-profile shutdown since authorities forced Steve Cohen’s controversial SAC Capital to close in 2013. A slew of factors — from a brewing insider-trading scandal to a contentious investment by Visium’s founder that rankled investors and staffers alike — led to Visium’s demise. On top of all of that, Visium’s flagship fund had been reporting dismal performance. Visium is selling one of its better performing...

Three bankers in New York, London and Siena, Italy, died within 17 months of each other in 2013-14 in what authorities deemed a series of unrelated suicides. But in each case, the victim had a connection to a burgeoning global banking scandal, leaving more questions than answers as to the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

In the latest tragic news from the world of finance, earlier today Zurich Insurance, the largest Swiss insurer which employs 55,000 people and provides general insurance and life insurance products in more than 170 countries, reported that Martin Senn, the company's former chief executive officer who stepped down in a December reshuffle, has committed suicide. He was 59. Senn had been a long-time employee of the insurer, serving as its chief executive for six years before stepping down in December. The family informed Zurich Insurance that Senn had taken his own life on Friday, according to the statement. "We are...

A Merrill Lynch analyst ate a handful of magic mushrooms in his Manhattan apartment Sunday morning - and then plunged to his death out of his 26th floor window. Alex Lagowitz, 23, was found dead on a third floor, outdoor patio around 10 a.m. - directly below his bedroom window at Windsor Court on East 31st Street and Lexington Avenue in Murray Hill. It’s still unclear if he purposely jumped or lost his balance and fell out of the window.

JPMorgan Vice Chairman Jimmy Lee unexpectedly died on Wednesday, the company said. He was 62. James B. Lee Jr. led the company's investment banking arm, and was known for his work on the syndicated loan market among other things. He oversaw major mergers and acquisitions deals including the sale of General Electric assets, the General Motors and Alibaba IPOs (the two largest U.S. IPOs ever), the United-Continental merger and the Comcast-NBCUniversal merger, according to a company spokesman.

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) –– Ed Gilligan, the president of American Express, has died. He was 55 years old. Gilligan died after becoming ill on a flight from Japan to New York. Gilligan was named the company’s president two years ago and joined American Express in 1980 while still a student at New York University, according to the Wall Street Journal. He was widely considered a possible successor to CEO Ken Chenault, WSJ reported. Chenault made the announcement via a letter to Amex employees Friday: With the heaviest of hearts, I must share some devastating news. Ed Gilligan – President of...

NEW YORK – American Express said president Ed Gilligan died suddenly Friday after falling ill while flying on a corporate plane to New York. The credit card company said the 55-year-old executive was coming back from a business trip. The plane made an emergency landing in the U.S., an American Express spokeswoman said, but she declined to say where Gilligan had been.

A popular bike path became the scene of a gruesome murder late Thursday when a life insurance executive was killed while running near her Connecticut home. Melissa Millan, 54, a triathlete and mother of two, was found stabbed at about 8 p.m. in the Hartford suburb of Simsbury, Conn. Police have stepped up patrols of the bike path and scoured the area on Saturday, but no suspect has been named and the murder weapon has not been recovered, WFSB reported. Millan, a senior vice president who had been with MassMutual Financial Group since 2001, was transported to an area hospital,...

here was no knife recovered at the scene, leading officials to suspect the death was not a suicide, and they were trying to determine who had access to his apartment. One-bedroom apartments at the building are listed at more than $1 million.