94th Richest Man In World Kills Self
Adolf Merckle, the 94th richest man in the world, committed suicide this week. Stock speculation is hazardous to your health. [NYT]
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It truly is sad that people threatened with losing their material possessions feel they have no reason left to live
Someone should have told him that finacially related suicide is SO 2008:
"Two days before Christmas, in New York, Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet was found dead at his desk, wrists slashed and a bottle of pills nearby, after he lost $US1.4 billion invested with Bernard Madoff. And in September, Kirk Stephenson, 47, the chief operating officer of private equity house Olivant, jumped in front of a train west of London and was killed."
wow, just wow. This economy is literally killing everyone.
This guy was the owner of my company, Heidelberg Cement. Pretty screwed up. Should've just sold the company to someone else if he was that strapped for cash. Hopefully this won't affect us here in the USA.
he was worth 9.2 billion and lost a few hundred million. I'm not a math wizard, but doesn't that leave him with a few billion to go around? It's not like him and his family will be moving to welfare. I don't want to speak ill of the dead, but it feels like he overreacted a bit (unless I'm missing something, which is entirely possible).
@darkjedi26: If the guy was already a little unhinged I could see how an unhealthy mind could blow a multimillion dollar loss out of proportion even if there were billions left over.
How awful for his family. Somebody had to go claim that body.
@blama: Seriously, there is NOTHING worth giving your life for. Except maybe to save someone elses. But money? *COME ON!*
What is the worst thing that would have happened if he had lived?
There are people who have NOTHING. NOTHING. NOTHING. Living in abject poverty, with no chance of ever getting even moderately wealthy. Living in war-torn countries, starving, seeing horrible things every day. But they don't kill themselves.
I just don't get it.
At least this one left a note.
The Villehuchet thing still makes me wonder if it really was a suicide.
And speaking of people who SHOULD have committed suicide, I walked by Bernie Madoff's place theother day and it was SWARMING with media, just waiting for him to poke his nose out. Made me laugh.
So now we have 2 adolfs that killed themselves.... to soon?
Coward.
Too bad he couldn't deal with the thought of doing the same thing that billions of people are doing every day: being poor.
And people wonder why class warfare exists...
It's probably more than about money and the fear of becoming poor. I bet there's a lot of personal shame involved in making some really bad judgments, so publicly.
@darkjedi26: Don't forget that a persons worth is many times calculated with what you own not just monetary funds you have.
According to Wikipedia, he died the 96th richest man in the world.
That is a terrible, unspeakable shame that no man should have to live with. 96th.
I just hope his family kept the receipts for the gifts they bought for him for Christmas.
I think you guys are looking at this wrong. I don't think he had a problem living poor. His VW GOLF was found nearby.
There are some people in the world who have some shred of honor and feel shame for costing others their jobs and savings.
I read this in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, and while i haven't read too much more into it, that was my initial reaction.
One thing to consider is the shame that he may have felt. Once you start brushing elbows with the 'upper-crust' of society, life becomes about stroking your own ego and proving that you are the king of the world. Having known more than a few of these types, he was probably ashamed at only being the 94th richest person in the world.
Realistically he could have lost 99% of his wealth and still be left with 94 million dollars.
I'm a terrible person, but who cares? It's just some rich guy who became rich by exploiting workers and consumers. His greed, consumtion of wealth and excessive lifestyle have indirectly killed many more people.
@pollyannacowgirl: No. He did this to these people, he should face what he's done, not take the coward's way out. He's got some smidgen of my respect for that.
@Yan Grinshteyn: You do know most of his wealth came from inheritance, right? And I know you can provide/already have examples of his "Excessive Lifestyle", and won't just go googling furiously to find a nugget or two right after reading this, right?
@pollyannacowgirl: It's because money can't buy you happiness. The so-called "American Dream", defined as the pursuit of happiness through material means, can never deliver what it promises. Men who spend their lives in this fruitless pursuit wake up one day to realize that the foundation they built their lives upon has crumbled.
There's only one foundation that is secure enough to build a meaningful life on.
@i.GitEmSteveDave: inheritance is an excuse? and what kind of examples could you possibly need of excessive lifestyle? the guy was worth billions of dollars. whether he drives a scooter or a mercedez, he lives in unbelievable excess.
"...he even made his way to being the 94th richest man in the world, but in the end, he could never come to terms or even bare with having the first name 'Adolf'. Not too long after ringing in 2009 Mr. Merckle, decided to take his own life. Little did he realize the irony in the fact that he wouldnt be the most famous 'Adolf' to commit suicide but alas that is life...errr...death..."
@Yan Grinshteyn: Exploiting workers and consumers. To employ someone is to have a mutual benefit, one does not employ out of sympathy nor do they work to someone else's benefit. Money is involved yes, but money is the the way that we do trade and show value to one another.
Consumers purchase the best product that their money can buy, if you can offer a better product at a cheaper price then do so.
You my friend, are lacking touch with reality. Excess would only be if he lived in excess of his means, if he was a fool with his money that is/was his decision. Would your rather have taken his wealth away and diveded amongst others who would have no doubt been just as or more foolishly, having no pride in it?
Looks like I just moved up a notch on the ladder.
@blama: That's actually a very good way to put it. It is pretty sad when something like this happens...
@GuinevereRucker: The american dream has nothing to do with materialism despite your not so slightly veiled attempt at perverting it.
The American Dream is the dream of opportunity (not to be confused with the bank of opportunity, please). The dream that with hard work and ambition you can acheive anything. The american dream is that you can be that doctor and save lives, not the cars and the houses.
Furthermore, the things you buy represent the hard work you've done, if you do something you hate then the money and the things you buy with it will only serve as a reminder of that which you despise.
/Ayn Rand
@CES.GitEmSteveDave:
Yeah. You are right. Mommy and Daddy gave him the money, so Yan's comments aren't relevant. Let's assume, as you seem to imply, that every dime of his was just given to him out of dumb luck. Turns out he used the markets to sustain his fortune.
And I don't need to provide a bibliography to establish that the raw materials for pharmaceuticals and concrete pollute the environment. Sorry.
I'm shedding no tears for poor old Mr. Merckle. Whaaaa! I'm worth $9+ billion, and I lost $500,000 million.
@Wormfather is Wormfather: @White Speed Receiver:
Yeah, right. He killed himself out of some anachronistic Japanese face-loss ethic.
Huh?
We don't know why he killed himself, but if he cared about people losing their jobs he wouldn't have consolidated his concrete holdings with his competitor. Ordinarily, that puts many working class people out of work.
God! So many of you are apologists for these corporate bastards. It's too much.
@sean98125: I hear the leather seats in his personal airplane had cracks in the leather.
He had to cover them with TOWELS!
Isn't it a shame?
For everyone who is feeling sympathy for this guy, consider this: he jumped in front of a train.
Someone trying to make a living was operating that train.
When you're dealing with large trains and high speeds, there is no way to stop in time. It is likely that this engineer had to watch as he was unable to keep his train from hitting this guy. Even if he didn't see it, he still has to live with the knowledge.
Suicide is a damn selfish thing to do. Doubly so if you involve someone else in it.
most people in the world who are employed have no mutual benefit with their employer. they work so they can scrape enough mutton to eat to survive a day longer. they also have no means of anything better.
to assume that a person can avast this mind boggling amount of wealth without cheating thousands of people out of basic necessities is complete ignorance.
but thats not my main point. my main point is that he's some rich guy. he doesnt care about anything other than his immediate wealth and he's lived a life of complete luxury without thinking of the consequences that causes for other people.
but nevermind, i take it back. its such a shame that this one guy died.
@IrvCrapper: So he should keep hold on to his holdings until the competitor can undercut him to a point where he has to fire everybody.
Got it.
@Secret Agent Man: Yeah, but what would Bill Gates do if he woke up one day and only had Oprah's money?
and what kind of examples could you possibly need of excessive lifestyle? the guy was worth billions of dollars. whether he drives a scooter or a mercedez, he lives in unbelievable excess.
most people in the world who are employed have no mutual benefit with their employer. they work so they can scrape enough mutton to eat to survive a day longer. they also have no means of anything better.
@Yan Grinshteyn: That is making some pretty broad sweeping comments that are IMHO, wrong.
Unbelievable: beyond belief or understanding
Excessive:beyond normal limits.
According to to you, living in a modest home and driving a mid size sedan is OK, until you have a certain amount of money. At that point, those things instantly transform into something that most people could never posses or even comprehend possessing it.
When I worked for MBNA, I, along with every other employee of the bank, earned a "incentive" when the company did well. Anyone who owns some of their companies stocks also shares a mutual benefit with their employer.
Sad that it came to that, but what a way to go out!