German billionaire Merckle commits suicide over financial mess

07 January 2009

German billionaire Adolf Merckle walked out of his home on Monday night and threw himself in front of a running train near the station in the southern German town of Blaubeuren, and very close to a factory he founded.

The 74-year-old Merckle leaves behind his wife, three sons and a daughter and a suicide note, the contents of which were not revealed.

Local police and firefighters cleared the tracks near the station very close to the Ratiopharm GmbH drug company he owned.

Merckle was deeply in debt as he lost nearly €400 million ($539.4 million) when he laid wrong-way bets on the volatile Volkswagen stock, which soared when rival Porsche chose to increase its stake in the company in October and Heidelberg Cement, which is controlled by his family, lost 70 per cent in value due to the global economic crisis.

The German billionaire, according to Forbes magazine, ranked 94 on the list of richest people in the world with an estimated fortune of $9.2 billion, was running a business empire with £27.3 billion in annual sales employing around 100,000 people.

His vast portfolio of business interests includes the generic drug company-Ratiopharm, a huge stake in Heidelberg Cement and Phoenix Pharmahandel, a stake in a company that makes vehicles for ski slopes and stakes in a sugar refinery and one of Germany's oldest foundries.