There are several factors that make these wealthy suicides prime targets for an attempt. First, they are men, and men usually don't go for "suicide attempts," they go for the success (guns, windows). Second they in the later stages of life, and elderly men are usually the prime demographic for successful suicide. Then there's the fact these people have their value system warped by money; their whole self-esteem is measured by not if they've married and had a family, it's by their net worth. Then there's extenuating factors, like ill health, possible investigation and imprisonment by the authorities (because you no longer have money for good attorneys), and the fact you've gone from a abundant provider to an abundant debtor and are now looking at life in the nursing home and seizure of all your possessions.
Cowardly? Perhaps, but I wouldn't be so quick to judge. It's more sad and unfortunate that the loss of mere lucre leads these men to such a (logical, to them) path.
Dave_Schuler
· 11 months ago
When you're very rich money doesn't mean the same thing as it does to you and me. It's a way of keeping score. H. Merckle lost the game and couldn't deal with it. It's sad.
These a**holes would have moved a factory from the US or Western Europe in a heartbeat and without a second though if there was an extra nickel of profit to be earned and they did...
jeff_pickens
· 11 months ago
I heard about this last night at a book club.
If you haven't already, consider reading "Richistan" by Robert Frank. It's a peak into the psyche of the wealthy, the rich, the very rich, and the obscenely very rich. Interesting psychology, that Dave Schuler alludes to in his post.
Not too surprising, money transforms into a symbol, a reckoning, and a measure of self-worth rather than as a tool for transacting goods and services.
StockBoySF
· 11 months ago
Whenever someone's sense of self is lost there is always the chance for depression and suicide.
archangel
· 11 months ago
i dont believe we have the facts about his suicide. Many elderly people commit suicide. The reasons are complex, and most of the time the pathway to suicide is laid down for years before an actual attempt.
Psychologically, there are factors that have likely dogged this man most if not all of his life. Suicide is seldom an impulsive decision, but often an anti-life choice one has been fighting against for a long long time. There is a trigger, it is true, but usually it is not the first trigger in the person's life that urges them to do away with themselves... it is more likely one in a long line of many triggers that they've managed to evade.
Because of the four suicides over the last couple weeks of men in high finance, I think, frankly, it gives us a horrible glimpse behind the curtain of 'rich person persona'... that demonstrates once again that mental health issues have no respect for class or race or culture.
The MSM has excellent health journos. I hope they will write about what causes a person at a breaking point to choose to end their life rather than muddle through one more time... There is much more to such stories of suicide by a rich man. Much more.
this is just my two cents worth.
thanks Patrick for giving us an oppty to think about this matter
dr.e
AustinRoth
· 11 months ago
Another factor is that we do not know how much of his fortune was paper-based, and/or highly leveraged. With the exception of someone like Bill Gates in his prime, where almost all his wealth was based on his ownership of a public stock, really knowing the net worth of the very rich, and how stable the underlying values are, is a matter of guessing based on what little public information can be gathered.
For all we know, he was deeply in the red now, and couldn't face the prospect of having to to both explain the loss of everything, and having to try and rebuild at his age.
All Comments
There are several factors that make these wealthy suicides prime targets for an attempt. First, they are men, and men usually don't go for "suicide attempts," they go for the success (guns, windows). Second they in the later stages of life, and elderly men are usually the prime demographic for successful suicide. Then there's the fact these people have their value system warped by money; their whole self-esteem is measured by not if they've married and had a family, it's by their net worth. Then there's extenuating factors, like ill health, possible investigation and imprisonment by the authorities (because you no longer have money for good attorneys), and the fact you've gone from a abundant provider to an abundant debtor and are now looking at life in the nursing home and seizure of all your possessions.
Cowardly? Perhaps, but I wouldn't be so quick to judge. It's more sad and unfortunate that the loss of mere lucre leads these men to such a (logical, to them) path.
Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet Lost His Own Money In Madoff Ponzi Scheme
Cry me a river...
These a**holes would have moved a factory from the US or Western Europe in a heartbeat and without a second though if there was an extra nickel of profit to be earned and they did...
If you haven't already, consider reading "Richistan" by Robert Frank. It's a peak into the psyche of the wealthy, the rich, the very rich, and the obscenely very rich. Interesting psychology, that Dave Schuler alludes to in his post.
Not too surprising, money transforms into a symbol, a reckoning, and a measure of self-worth rather than as a tool for transacting goods and services.
Psychologically, there are factors that have likely dogged this man most if not all of his life. Suicide is seldom an impulsive decision, but often an anti-life choice one has been fighting against for a long long time. There is a trigger, it is true, but usually it is not the first trigger in the person's life that urges them to do away with themselves... it is more likely one in a long line of many triggers that they've managed to evade.
Because of the four suicides over the last couple weeks of men in high finance, I think, frankly, it gives us a horrible glimpse behind the curtain of 'rich person persona'... that demonstrates once again that mental health issues have no respect for class or race or culture.
The MSM has excellent health journos. I hope they will write about what causes a person at a breaking point to choose to end their life rather than muddle through one more time... There is much more to such stories of suicide by a rich man. Much more.
this is just my two cents worth.
thanks Patrick for giving us an oppty to think about this matter
dr.e
For all we know, he was deeply in the red now, and couldn't face the prospect of having to to both explain the loss of everything, and having to try and rebuild at his age.
But that is all conjecture.