A German billionaire whose business empire was plunged into difficulties by the financial crisis and losses caused by speculative share trading has committed suicide, his family said Tuesday.
Adolf Merckle, 74, threw himself under a train. A railway worker found his body by the side of the track close to his home at Blaubeuren near the southern city of Ulm on Monday evening, dpa reported.
A statement released by the family said the financial crisis and its effects on Merckle's 100-strong network of companies had turned him into a broken man.
"He took his own life," the statement said. Sources close to the family said he left a suicide note. Police said there was no indication that anyone else was involved in his death.
Germany's fifth richest man with an estimated fortune of 6.9 billion euros (9.2 billion dollars), Merckle's empire ranged from generic drugs to cement.
He hit the headlines last autumn when he suffered massive losses on bets he had made on movements of the share price in Volkswagen, Europe's largest car company.
Before his death, he had been negotiating with banks for a bridging loan of 400 million euros to save his empire, which includes the pharmaceutical company ratiopharm and drugs maker Phoenix.
Another of his companies is HeidelbergCement AG, which is reportedly heavily in debt after buying British rival Hanson.
Reports said the banks were asking Merckle to cede control over large portions of his empire before agreeing to a bailout.
Some financial sources put the Merckle group's cash needs at up to 1 billion euros. Others say his asset management fund VEW has debts of 3-5 billion euros.
VEW's debts were attributed in part to a need to raise capital for HeidelbergCement, a move which was financed in part by credits. VEW deposited shares as guarantees for the credits, but the value of the shares has plummeted as a result of the global financial crisis.
Merckle's group of companies employees 100,000 workers and has an annual turnover of 30 billion euros.
He is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter.
