Great riches come with great responsibilities and then some of them brings along with them stress which could become fatal. There are lots of cases where financial loss, dropping shares, takeovers, loss of job, ousting from posts or personal problems have forced some men to end their lives and even worse, take the lives of their family (or pets too). The ways used were different ranging from consuming a poisonous substance to shooting himself, from jumping out of the 44th floor window to throwing himself before a train. Here is the list of 10 rich people and the ways/circumstances in which they ended their precious lives.
1. Rei Jane Huai:
The co-founder of FalconStor software data protections. He was later ousted from post of CEO of this company on charges of sanctioning inappropriate payment to one of the customer. Actually Hui was the major stockholder, CEO and the most powerful man in the company and making him resign was an impossible task and hence, he was made to face an investigation which led to end of his notable working experience. He was known as a man with super skill set in software development and man who made Falconstor as a good name. Earlier people used to rely on disks and he was the one who made the Virtual Tape library known to everyone.
2. Peter Smedley:
The BBC film Choosing to Die reminds of a lot of memories, questions and speculations and the name “Peter Smedley and Christine” . They had been married for more than 3 decades and had enormous amount of luxuries in their life. He was a hotelier and ran a tinned food business empire. He was suffering from deadly motor neuron disease and hence, faced some of the worst days during his life time struggling with this. According to his friends’ account, he was extremely lonely and did not usually share his life with anyone. He committed suicide at Dignitas clinic- here the people with terminal illness are helped by professionals in medical sciences field and they are given assisted deaths. Peter Smedly used to pick peas in younger age, then he became a pilot in south Africa before becoming a businessman. At time of his death, he was accompanied by his wife and Dignitas’ staff.
3. Wayne Pai:
The founder of Polaris group of Taiwan. This group was one of the topnotch brokerage group at the national level. He was a well reputed man and dies of suicide. Alleged rumors of insider trading with an official of a university lead to his image’s downfall and he suddenly disappeared in the year 2008. Then, his wife and Polaris personnel took the help of police along with other people to find him and unfortunately, he was found dead in the outlying islands two days after he was missing. He was 56 years of age.
4. Paul castle:
The multi million pound business of this man received a huge setback when he threw himself in front of a train. During times of recession, he went into losses, and a series of debt followed. They could not bear his peaceful existence. Adding to it, he had numerous health problems like prostate, heart, skin and esophagus related issues which had wreaked havoc in his personal life and made him go from hospital to hospital frequently. He had become Britain’s youngest Polo Team sponsor and was a friend of Prince Charles.
5. Huibert Boumeester:
This 49 year old millionaire banker was found dead and had committed suicide by his own gun. It was known whether he left his job willingly or was compelled to leave but that is for sure that the reason for his death is attributed to loss of his job. He rose to the post of Chief Financial Officer. He also set up a foundation for promotion of culture in various nations and to his credit is the fact that he was the director of 3 different charities. His bank was taken over by Royal Bank of Scotland which plunged it into huge losses. He held 6 licensed guns/rifles and went missing one day then the police found his dead body and his identity was confirmed by his bereaved family.
6. John Lawrenson:
Dying in their lover’s arm was that this rich man wanted to prove and he did that. His wife Craoline was terminally ill and on the death bed fighting with Cancer but the retired company boss had some other plans as he could not live without her. They both searched on internet the ways to commit suicide and ordered a poisonous substance via mail order from Mexico. He was an affluent man and the mansion where they breathed their last was of 1.2 million euro.
7. Eli M. Black:
Beginning his career with the famous Lehman Brothers of the United States, this man rose to be the chairman and CEO of a seal-cap making company. After one and a half decade, they joined hands with a firm and formed United Brands. But things took a wrong turn and he discovered that the firm did not actually have that much capital as he had believed which broke his trust badly. Soon after, they ran into huge debt. In 1974, a natural disaster (hurricane) occurred and the company lost its banana plantations which further deteriorated their situation. Finally they announced their losses and declared their inability to cope up with it. In February 1975, he went to 44th floor of a building in Manhattan and committed suicide by jumping out of the window.
8. Christopher Foster:
One of the most brutal and unfortunate incidents where the perpetrator killed his family, his loved ones as well as his pets before killing taking his own life. It is assured by his friends/acquaintances that this man who rose above from a suburban small house to 1.2 million Euro mansion had shown no intention or unusual behavior in those days. The family returned from a party happily , the daughter chatted with a friend and then was told to go to bed. Suddenly, Christopher took his rifle, shot his wife and daughter. Then he went out and shot his horse and dog. After that he set his costly mansion ablaze and finally he ended his own life. It is widely believed that he landed into some financial troubles and was about to lose his wealth due to which he did not want to see his family in poverty and took this extreme step.
9. Steve L Good :
The dead body of this man was found in his Jaguar Car near Chicago at a wildlife park. The chairman of a real estate company was a versatile personality. He had served as President of Chicago’s realtor association and had always been known as a dynamic man who had actually made his company much capable and a big reputed name. Such was his efforts that Steve’s real estate Co. was United States’ one of the biggest firms in his field and used to dominate in the arena with massive respect and expectations of the people. In the times just before his death, he was talking about some “turmoil” in the real estate industry and tough times. He was the president of the Realtors alliance, in those times he had been commented on profusely and this had been indeed a tough time for him and many others of the same area. As per the police says, there is no evidence that whether this had anything to take with his finances or not but yes his suicide by shooting himself comes as a shock to everyone who had even met him once in his lifetime. He was a man with a glowing smile on his face and with positive energy. He had an enthusiasm for life, a flow of energy which worked as a motivation for everybody around him so hardly anyone could believe of this action.
10. Adolf Merckle:
He threw himself before a train and committed suicide. He expanded his family’s wealth and became Germany’s biggest Pharmaceuticals Company. He made a prediction and sold off Volkswagen shares thinking that they will fall badly but a support by other firm did not let this happen. He incurred a loss of $ 3.6 billion due to this which led to stress for him. The state rejected his request for financial assistance and his cement company could not make payments of the loan they had taken which further pushed him into economic problems. He was a billionaire and his family owns a generic drug manufacturer also.
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