How much is enough?

[kendoiwan]

German Billionaire Suicide

Adolf Merckle, one of Germany's richest men, has committed suicide after talks with creditors failed to save his business empire, which spanned from pharmaceuticals to cement. Merckle's personal wealth was estimated by Forbes to be about $9 billion, and he was known as a modest man who bicycled to work. Merckle was particularly hurt when, after shorting Volkswagen, the auto company's share price jumped after Porsche unexpectedly revealed it controlled more of VW than previously believed. He died after being hit by a train. In a statement, his family said, "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."


So this guy loses hundreds of millions (still leaves him richer than the lot of us combined) and kills himself because he can't take it.

Reminds me of the Chris Rock joke about Bill Gates killing himself if he woke up with Oprahs money...

[*Strictly_The_Facts*]

Amazing. Only if i could cry about having lost a billion or so of my 9billion. yes very depressing indeed...

[kendoiwan]

Wealth

[MadamI'madaM]

and some people believe it takes actually relevant intelligence to make money

LOL @ a German obsessive control freak billionaire named Adolf

EDIT: shit, I might brag to my friends if I found a twenty on the sidewalk.

[*Strictly_The_Facts*]

:lol:

[MadamI'madaM]

People like that amaze me.

They could tell you anything about the markets they run, but I'd bet he couldn't tell you anything worthwhile about the non financial factors affecting the markets.

It's just slick rich people putting their confidence in marginally more obsessive slick rich people with family empires and business majors.

He certainly wasn't anything approaching a pharmacist, fwiw.

[aelan]

It wasn't the loss of the $$$ from the failed shorting. He was never a flashy businessman. More a complex mix of pride and a personal sense of failure at not being able to pass on his business as his predecessors had done. Your thread on honour perhaps.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/4210246/Adolf-Merckle-what-made-this-German-billionaire-commit-suicide.html

[kendoiwan]

It wasn't the loss of the $$$ from the failed shorting. He was never a flashy businessman. More a complex mix of pride and a personal sense of failure at not being able to pass on his business as his predecessors had done to him. Your thread on honour perhaps.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/4210246/Adolf-Merckle-what-made-this-German-billionaire-commit-suicide.html

Speculation... But for the sake of argument, even if that was the case, his family would still be richer than the lot of us combined...

[MadamI'madaM]

It wasn't the loss of the $$$ from the failed shorting. He was never a flashy businessman. More a complex mix of pride and a personal sense of failure at not being able to pass on his business as his predecessors had done Your thread on honour perhaps.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/4210246/Adolf-Merckle-what-made-this-German-billionaire-commit-suicide.html

I agree with the heart of your suggestion, but his short sale is a quantifiable measure of the failure of his obsessive control and understanding of the market.

There's no way he couldn't have downsized and stayed in business if he took a little bite of the shitwich.

It was totally the short sell.

EDIT: complete crybaby

I would be surprised to hear if he was truly self made.

[MadamI'madaM]

I bet that guy kicked more than a few checkerboards in his time.

[aelan]

Speculation... But for the sake of argument, even if that was the case, his family would still be richer than the lot of us combined...

It wasn't money then, simply.

[kendoiwan]

If it wasn't money then why kill yourself AFTER you lost said money?

[MadamI'madaM]

If it wasn't money then why kill yourself AFTER you lost said money?

It's about winning a game.

As soon as you need to start dipping into your wallet to play, you're a loser.

This guy is worth at least 8 billion and he was talking to creditors.

I can't understand that mindset beyond obsession with "winning".

[kendoiwan]

It's about winning a game.

As soon as you need to start dipping into your wallet to play, you're a loser.

This guy is worth at least 8 billion and he was talking to creditors.
8.5 euro

9 billion U.S.


I can't understand that mindset beyond obsession with "winning".

See Chris Rock

[aelan]

If it wasn't money then why kill yourself AFTER you lost said money?

I'm saying the VW speculation loss was not the main reason. That it was the loss of personal pride and control that made the choice.

We're just speculating here as he's a very private man, but look at your own reasoning earlier - if you have GBP 6bn, losing 400mn is less than 1%. A guy like him has lived through the reduction of the family business in the world war, and built it up again.

His losses in the VW speculation was in Oct last year. He killed himself only in Jan this year, and only after arranging a financing consortium of 30 banks which provided a bridging loan which would reflate his empire. In effect, he'd resolved the issue, isn't it.

Why I said personal pride and control was because of this:
His empire was built on leverage - Heidelberg Cement has debts of EUR 12bn, and his parent holding company, VEM, about EUR 5bn. In the days running up, his banker friends and industry/ministers had publicly "condemned" him as a stock market gambler, he was refused state help to save jobs, employees of his were told they were stupid for financing his gambling, in plain words. In the terms of agreements with the banks for saving his empire, he would have nothing more to do with the businesses his family built. His son would also not have a part any longer. In effect, what you've be brought up to believe in, and to work for, your whole lifetime, is no longer yours.

The sense of failure to protect the family, the business which was built up over generations, and his employees - breakups of his empire could still happen, with much job losses to come - it hits back on personal pride more than money does.

Tis why I said the VW loss wasn't it.

I'd need some German folks here to explain the concept of mittelstand maybe.

[kendoiwan]

ACTUALLY after taking the time to explain what you were saying in detail...

[Faust06]

I don't understand this "personal sense of failure". He got unlucky, the only stupid thing he did is kill himself.

I'd imagine there were other factors that led to a fairly severe depression for him to kill himself.. but of course, the only thing most of us would notice is his financial loss.

[C.J.Woolf]

If only all the CEOs of the busted banks and investment firms had enough shame to kill themselves instead of cling to their golden parachutes.

[kendoiwan]

I was just thinking about that. BNP Paribas laid off a bunch of people at their Jersey City site, and they rioted...

[CEOofRawness]

So this guy loses hundreds of millions (still leaves him richer than the lot of us combined) and kills himself because he can't take it.

Reminds me of the Chris Rock joke about Bill Gates killing himself if he woke up with Oprahs money...

I'm glad he died. Now I can cross him off the list.