Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW

[LargoWinch]

Seems all I am posting are good news today...



Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW


By Carter Dougherty
Published: January 6, 2009



FRANKFURT: Adolf Merckle, the German billionaire whose speculation in volatile Volkswagen shares had pushed his sprawling business empire to the edge of ruin, has committed suicide, his family said Tuesday.

Merckle, 74, was found dead on railroad tracks near his villa in the southern German hamlet of Blaubeuren on Monday evening. The German authorities in the nearby city of Ulm confirmed the death, saying there was no sign that anyone else was involved.


Continued here:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/...ness/adolf.php

[D-Mack]

Re: Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW

Financial Casualty: Why Adolf Merckle Killed Himself


Facing financial difficulty, Merckle appealed to the government of his home state of Baden-Wüerttemberg in November for help and was rejected. Hearing news of Merckle's death, Baden-Wüerttemberg's conservative premier, Günther Oettinger, said the state had lost a great entrepreneur. "News of Adolf Merckle's death left me deeply shaken," he said.

...

Just as Merckle was a symbol of Germany's industrious spirit, his death may come to symbolize the way Germany is dealing with the global financial crisis. For years, German media and politicians railed against U.S. and British private-equity companies as a plague of destructive "locusts" who inflicted harm on German society. As Merckle's stock-market gamble failed, he seemed to become a homegrown locust for commentators and politicians looking for a scapegoat for the financial situation.

...

http://www.time.com/time/business/ar...870007,00.html

Look what happens when you don't bail them out

[don]

Re: Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW

Near the end of 2008, in quick succession, we lost Harold Pinter, Eartha Kitts and Freddie Hubbard.

The world was a little less for their loss.

This week three financial VIPs took their own lives.

Oh well....

[bradzepfan]

Re: Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW

Please have some respect. He was a good man....

[CanuckinTX]

Re: Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW

Please have some respect. He was a good man....

We must have different definitions of a good man.

There are many people that face much harder lives day in and day out that don't take the cowardly way out of their problems and leave others to pick up the pieces. Can you imagine what he has now put his family through?

[bradzepfan]

Re: Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW

I am going to catch poop for this statement, but how sure are you that he killed himself? I suppose Villehuchet killed himself too by making cuts to HIS BICEP???? Come on people, good God you are naive.

[CanuckinTX]

Re: Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW

I am going to catch poop for this statement, but how sure are you that he killed himself? I suppose Villehuchet killed himself too by making cuts to HIS BICEP???? Come on people, good God you are naive.

In a similar vein, how are you so sure he was killed? Do you have proof or are you just speculating? Just because you buy into a conspiracy theory doesn't make me naive.

[bradzepfan]

Re: Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW

I am not "so sure" he was killed, but there is enough uncertainty present that one should at least be respectful of the dead.

The issues:

1. Throwing oneself in front of a train is an EXTREMELY rare form of suicide. (I am a physician and am painfully familiar with these statistics)

2. His losses were far from catastrophic.

3. Well documented goings-on in that power-tier of society make murder not such a bizzare possibility.

4. He was a counter-establishment figure.

5. The fact the police report showed "no evidence others were involved" is cold comfort considering at least 2 other "suicides" in the past year which had clean police reports but are now largely considered murder. (I don't recall thier names offhand but can look them up if you'd like)


Perhaps Adolf was a statistical oddity, but perhaps NOT!!! Da Da DUM!
xo- Alex Jones

[rabot10]

Re: Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW

I am starting feel much better about my trades - I don't feel like runing infront of a train just yet, could happen but I hope not.

[Andreuccio]

Re: Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW

I am starting feel much better about my trades - I don't feel like runing infront of a train just yet, could happen but I hope not.

I hope you don't, but if you do decide to, can I have your stereo?

[GRG55]

Re: Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW

I hope you don't, but if you do decide to, can I have your stereo?

I want his BMW. The one with "The Button"...

[rabot10]

Re: Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW

I hope you don't, but if you do decide to, can I have your stereo?

If you take the dog you can have the stereo and the M6

[oddlots]

Re: Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW

If you take the dog you can have the stereo and the M6

Glad trading's going better. A smiley on the last comment would have been reassuring.

[mickeyc21]

Re: Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW

Merckle was a businessman in the Warren Buffett model who created and improved businesses his entire life.
He was vilified in Germany following his losses on VW.
The VW/Porsche debacle was an orchestrated sting by German government regulators and Porsche to teach speculators a lesson. It is widely believed in Germany that shorting shares is immoral. The equivalent of the SEC in Germany made it very obvious immediately after the event that it was aware of what was going on and that it approved. A short squeeze of this kind is impossible under US law and would land the perpetrators in jail if attempted.
Criticism of him is extremely misguided. If you know what it feels like to have your life's work destroyed by government intervention and have your countries media portray you as a villain it is reasonable to criticize him.
Please show some respect for him and his family.

[EJ]

Re: Billionaire kills himself after losses on VW

Merckle was a businessman in the Warren Buffett model who created and improved businesses his entire life.
He was vilified in Germany following his losses on VW.
The VW/Porsche debacle was an orchestrated sting by German government regulators and Porsche to teach speculators a lesson. It is widely believed in Germany that shorting shares is immoral. The equivalent of the SEC in Germany made it very obvious immediately after the event that it was aware of what was going on and that it approved. A short squeeze of this kind is impossible under US law and would land the perpetrators in jail if attempted.
Criticism of him is extremely misguided. If you know what it feels like to have your life's work destroyed by government intervention and have your country's media portray you as a villain it is reasonable to criticize him.
Please show some respect for him and his family.

I agree with your assessment. It is consistent with the information I have.