A Sign of the Times

[klunderbunker]

A European Billionaire lost over 5 billion dollars due to the plummeting economy. The loss devastated him and he killed himself. He left a suicide note and apologized to his family for being such a failure to them and left the majority of his money to them, so they could survive.

Now this could be a very sad story, except for one factor: after that loss, he had over 6 billion to his name. I don't know about any of you, but I'd love to be a devastated billionaire. This tells me more than anythign else that money can't buy happiness. He was obviously a successful businessman with no signs of family trouble, yet he takes his own life while still one of the richest men in the world. He say this apparently as too much to live without, ignoring the idea that he could either A, make it back, or B, retire from business. This has to be one of the saddest things I've ever heard. Not that he lost the money, but that he was that insecure.

 

[Tastycles]

That is quite a bizarre story. I think this is a true representation of the fact that men often have too much pride. It's hard for us, who I assume are mostly not billionaires, to comprehend how this person felt, because I think there's more to it than the money itself.

Think of everything you and your families have, then imagine that you, and only you, were responsible for losing half of that. Obviously, for some people, e.g. almost everyone, that would be a matter of life and death, and for others, e.g. the man in question, it wouldn't. But the same sense of failure woul be there for him as there would be for you or I. This man had obviously been immensely successful, and to have a significant proportion of that success turned into a catastrophic failure, then one can see where this man is coming from.

What I find deplorable about the situation isn't that he was depressed despite having billions of dollars, but the fact that he took the cowards way out. Killing yourself because you weren't as good a provider as you had one been is a selfish act because you ar taking yourself away from those who povided for you.

 

[HBK-aholic]

I think what stands out is that he 'felt a failure' to his family. He seems like the type of guy who would care a lot about being the major earner in the household, and had his masucline pride damaged when he lost so much money. Yes, I would love to still have 6Billion to my name, after losing 5 Billion. But he's lost almost half of his earnings, and while it doesn't seem huge to us because of the amount remaining, to someone like him it would be a lot to take in.

 

[klunderbunker]

I think Chris Rock said it best. Factor in that this was about alimony, but the idea is the same thing.

"If you have $20 million and your wife wants 10, big deal, you ain't starving. But if you make $30,000, you might have to kill her."

That puts it pretty well. To people like us, this money is astronomical. I have some money, and losing half of it would hurt me, but I'd still have more than enough to live on. Sure it would bother me, but if it was an issue I would think I could go out and make it all over again the same way I made it before. I suppose with him it was his life's work being thrown out the window it would seem, but still he had money and if his family's happiness depended on the amount of money that they had, it seems as if his priorities were way out of line.

 

[HBK-aholic]

I think Chris Rock said it best. Factor in that this was about alimony, but the idea is the same thing.

"If you have $20 million and your wife wants 10, big deal, you ain't starving. But if you make $30,000, you might have to kill her."

That puts it pretty well. To people like us, this money is astronomical. I have some money, and losing half of it would hurt me, but I'd still have more than enough to live on. Sure it would bother me, but if it was an issue I would think I could go out and make it all over again the same way I made it before. I suppose with him it was his life's work being thrown out the window it would seem, but still he had money and if his family's happiness depended on the amount of money that they had, it seems as if his priorities were way out of line.

I don't think that's what it was at all. It's his sense of pride. It's like when men supposedly won't ask for directions. He's spent his whole life making this money for his family to be happy. And sure, they can still be happy with what's left, but he's going to feel as if he's failed hem, because suddenly they have half of what they did have. I'm sure his family will be heartbroken he's gone, not the money, and would much rather have him, not 11 Billion.

 

[Mr. TM]

Obviously this guy had pride issues and it let him get the better of himself. But really, would you kill yourself knowing that you will had more than enough money to live on, have you children live on, and your grandchildren? I almost feel there is an overriding issue in this case. Maybe he thought that more money would be lost with him in control. Maybe he had acquired large portions of the money through dirty tactics that he had one day hoped to reverse and repay. With the lose of money, maybe he felt he could never repay his moral debts, without hurting his family's finances. His only repayment plan was his own death.

 

[Gelgarin]

I'm more alarmed by the sentiment of "He had money, he should be happy", than by the reasons for the mans suicide.

I'm assuming we're talking about Adolf Merckle here.

Anyway, I think people looking purely at the financial figures is rather missing the point.
The point, as I see it, is that the man's business empire was going to be torn to shreds in front of him. I think we can assume that if a man is 74 years old and still in full time employment despite being one of the hundred richest people in the world, that their job is their life and they care a tremendous deal it.

Having New England caviar removed from your existence is one thing. Having your life torn away from you is another.

When the uber rich loose it big they both can't, and don't want to, just piss off to the suburbs and let it all fall down. There's bankruptcy hearing after hearing. Constant meetings with shareholders and executives and who-ever-the-fuck wants to know where all their moneys gone. That's not even beginning to touch on the issue of all the other people effected by this who Merckle was going to have, practically speaking, destroyed the lives of.

I could go on about how his preexisting wealth would all be tied up in the businesses that were about to be stripped for parts, or talk about all the other factors that could have contributed, but all I really want to say is that I think it's in bad taste to select a man who's felt such despair that he's felt the need to throw himself in front of a train, then criticise his motivation for doing so like you can in any way have an understanding of the man's situation.

Gods. I'm sounding preachy is this one. Feel free to backhand me.