Posted on 01/06/2009 8:26:55 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
German tycoon Adolf Merckle commits suicide
25 mins ago
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German billionaire Adolf Merckle, assailed by financial turmoil and struggling to salvage his business empire, has killed himself, his family said on Tuesday.
"The desperate situation of his companies caused by the financial crisis, the uncertainties of the last few weeks and his powerlessness to act, have broken the passionate family entrepreneur and he took his own life," a family statement said.
Prosecutors in the southern German town of Ulm, near Merckle's home, said the 74-year-old died when a train struck him late on Monday. There was no sign anyone else was involved, they said.
/snip
Banking sources had told Reuters the family lost hundreds of millions of euros on investments, with losses of about 400 million euros ($539.4 million) on Volkswagen shares alone.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Ping!
You know it’s bad when billionaires start offing themselves.
Death by ICE is common in Germany. They don’t think about how they distress the driver though, who often has to go through counseling.
Guess he didn’t have enough Fahrvergnügen.
That's quite a way to off one's self.
One couldn’t just retire at 74 in a nice chateau near the Black Forest? I’m sure his extended family would be set for life.
Do yourself in because you lost money? Come on! That’s all that life is about?
Re: Do yourself in because you lost money? Come on! That’s all that life is about?
To many people, yes.
Sad way to live life.
Consider the “shame” involved...you were worth a billion a year ago....and today barely worth $100 million. You can’t travel in the same circles. You can’t reserve the $100k a week suite in Paris as easily. You can’t sit and have bankers at your table who beg to sit and listen to your stupid stories or gossip. To cover debts....you are suddenly selling off car collection or some artwork that you bought two decades ago. Your special friends don’t come by as often.
By summer of this year...there will be a dozen of these episodes a week occurring in Europe. Husbands will even smile as wives want a divorce....and the fifty million they could have gotten....is long gone...and the best they can ask for is $5 million. The Ex will be looking around and desperate to find the next husband ASAP.
I thought Germany had this wonderful socialist welfare system that Bambam is trying to copy here in the US. He couldn’t apply for assistance - food stamps, HUD and all the other ‘free’ goodies socialists like to dish out?
I was thinking the same. How sad.
I do hope anyone reading this thread who has considered this option steps back and sees the big picture. Thousands, maybe millions of people live on the equivalent of $1 a day. It is ok to be broke.
I don’t know! Its sad when someone does this. You can’t help but feel terrible for the family. But even still I can’t help but think this guy was a total selfish shmuck! (As an aside, does suicide nullify his life insurance?)
Re: It is ok to be broke.
Not if your idol is a golden one......and it is for MANY people.
It’s a sad business when anyone commits suicide. Nothing honorable about it. Very hard on the family, and especially the children and grandchildren, knowing that one of your parents or grandparents has killed himself—and perhaps being tempted to do the same thing some day.
I pray that he was not in his right mind and finds forgiveness.
Oh man, the Porsche-VW thing was unquestionably one of the top three biggest short squeezes in the history of mankind.
In this environment, the insurer probably went out of business anyway.
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