Merckle billionaire suicide highlights hard times

January 6, 1:40 PMSF Financial Fraud ExaminerPaul Springer

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Another prominent financial figure has taken his own life Monday as a result of investment woes. Adolf Merckle, a German billionaire, killed himself by hurling himself in the path of a train. Merckle left a suicide note, according to an account on Bloomberg. Merckle's $9 billion in assets put him at number 94 on the Forbes list last year.

More recently Merckle was in the news when the sale of one of his companies became likely as part of a financial rescue plan. Merckle's holding company was  $6.7 billion in debt. 

Two other recent market-driven suicides involved Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet and Eric Von Der Porten.

Von Der Porten, a San Carlos, Ca.-based money manager, suffered from depression well before last year's financial maelstrom, which proved more than he could bear.

After racking up millions in Madoff-related losses, de La Villehuchet, 65, a co-founder and chief executive officer of Access International Advisors, was found dead in his office in New York City last month. He expired from self-inflicted wounds. 

Last summer, hedge fund fraudster Samuel Israel III faked his own suicide before turning himself in to authorities.