ADOLF MERCKLE, one of Germany's wealthiest men, died by suicide after weeks of talks with creditors designed to save his businesses from being consumed by disastrous investments and the global financial crisis.
The billionaire (74) was said by his family to have been "broken" by the sight of his business empire, which ranged from pharmaceuticals to cement, crumbling. He died on Monday evening, apparently hit by a train a few hundred metres from his home in southern Germany.
A statement from his family said he had taken his own life.
"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."
The publicity-shy billionaire was one of Germany's most powerful industrialists, having built his family's small pharmaceutical business into a 120-firm conglomerate employing 100,000 people. He was regarded as a modest man who was known to cycle to work.
His personal worth was estimated at more than $9 billion (€7 billion) by Forbes magazine, while his companies' combined turnover was €30 billion. He was described as Germany's fifth richest man.
His fortunes worsened dramatically last year after he was caught on the wrong side of trades in Volkswagen shares, whose price spiked when Porsche revealed it controlled more of VW than had been thought. Mr Merckle had borrowed VW shares to sell them short in expectation of their price falling, while other trades also went against him.
He had tried to get support from local politicians in his home state of Baden-Württemburg, where many of his companies are located, as he tried to find ways to preserve his empire. They were unwilling to extend loan guarantees.
His death has shocked Germany. Günther Oettinger, leader of Mr Merckle's home state, said he was "deeply shaken" at the loss of a "great entrepreneur".
His death increases the uncertainty over the fate of the many companies he controlled, including HeidelbergCement, Ratiopharm, the generics drugs maker, and Phoenix, a drugs wholesaler. He had been in talks with a group of 30 banks to secure support to retain control of the businesses after he lost significant amounts in equities trades.
Ratiopharm was expected to have been sold as part of the restructuring demanded by creditors. Banks had also been demanding margin calls on loans given to the industrialist to buy his stake in HeidelbergCement.
A spokesperson for VEM, Mr Merckle's holding company, said yesterday that his death would have "no influence" on the restructuring process in his businesses.
Shares in HeidelbergCement, which is about 80 per cent owned by the Merckle family, fell more than 5 per cent amid investors'concern over restructuring talks. - (Financial Times service)
