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German Billionaire Commits Suicide After Betting Against VW Share Values

Agent009 submitted on 1/6/2009 Official AutoSpies Timestamp: 2:15:57 PM

16 user comments | Category: Misc News | Source: | SOURCE: www.reuters.com

In killing himself German billionaire Adolf Merckle has become the latest casualty of the global financial crisis, his family saying on Tuesday he was broken by the struggle to salvage their business empire.

Merckle, who was the world's 94th-richest person in 2008 according to Forbes magazine, spent his life building a business conglomerate with about 100,000 employees.

The empire was poised to come crashing down after his family made wrong-way bets on skyrocketing Volkswagen shares.

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German Billionaire Commits Suicide After Betting Against VW Share Values

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Agent009

"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough."

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User Comments

FillorKill

Another case of not being able to take the heat and getting out of the kitchen.

— FillorKill (View Profile)

Posted on 1/6/2009 2:47:15 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

StarSearch

crap, I was hoping you were the german millionaire.

(sigh)Dare to dream...

— StarSearch (View Profile)

Posted on 1/8/2009 4:29:30 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

AmazonPrinceIS350

He jumped in front of a train Ground Chuck & by the way stop pinning Toyota against Nissan because they are like peanut butter & jelly.

— AmazonPrinceIS350 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/6/2009 3:50:14 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -5   

BSBB

For someone who made so much money in business, did he not know that he shouldn't put all his eggs in one basket? Not good business sense, if you ask me.

— BSBB (View Profile)

Posted on 1/6/2009 4:37:05 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

DennyCrane

It's sad some people sell out to money to the point they don't think they can cope without it, it's just money. I feel for the family and friends left behind. Mr Merckle I hope you found the peace in death you failed to find in life. RIP

— DennyCrane (View Profile)

Posted on 1/6/2009 4:49:50 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

Kthorn

Maybe he had mad cow disease?

— Kthorn (View Profile)

Posted on 1/6/2009 5:14:33 PM | | Votes: -1   

t_bone

The thing is, it isn't just money. He built an empire of people who he let down, thousands of families of employees, shareholders, etc. now experiencing crisis...that's what he couldn't cope with. I actually respect this kind of suicide.

— t_bone (View Profile)

Posted on 1/6/2009 7:40:50 PM | | Votes: -1   

Kthorn

T-bone your last comment is insane. Letting people down is a fact of life for people in his position, and suicide is NEVER the solution. It is perhaps the most selfish act one could ever committ.

— Kthorn (View Profile)

Posted on 1/6/2009 10:39:31 PM | | Votes: 0   

_43LE

So, did he go from Billionaire to zero or just Millionaire? I'd be very happy being millionaire...

— _43LE (View Profile)

Posted on 1/6/2009 5:13:33 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

KZ258

what the heck happened to the website?

— KZ258 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/6/2009 6:03:38 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 7   

Badgewhore

They're trying to clean up the site so we look less trollish when flaming one another.

— Badgewhore (View Profile)

Posted on 1/7/2009 3:49:04 AM | | Votes: 4   

Designer1

wow, how much greedy can people be? throwing your life away for money? wow, I wonder if he had helped some needy person with his money if that person's life depended on him.

— Designer1 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/6/2009 6:13:41 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

huu76

Unfortunate but its hard to feel sorry for someone in his situation. I wonder how many people will be brought down because his company needs to come up with cash fast due to his excess and the fastest way to do that is to sell and cut employees?

Like they say, "Fear is temporary, greed is permanent." He got too greedy and was burned.

Site looks pretty sharp. Takes a bit to get used to but the comments section is much more organized.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 1/6/2009 10:36:34 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

mr_alexander

Having money may not buy you happiness but losing it sure can make you wanna kill yourself.. My condolences to his family, the only real victims of selfishly taking your life.

— mr_alexander (View Profile)

Posted on 1/7/2009 11:39:30 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

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