What is Digg?124 Comments
- LeftieLucy, on 01/09/2009, -9/+83I don't know ... It's kind of hard to have too much sympathy for a guy who didn't think life was worth living just because he wasn't going to be a billionaire anymore. From personal experience, I can vouch for the fact that it is quite possible to be both happy and a non-billionaire.
- AnotherDiggGuy, on 01/07/2009, -5/+46<sarcasm>The thought of only having $50 million in the bank vs. $5 billion is almost unbearable to think about.</sarcasm>
Just goes to show money really does change people, they don't think like a rational human being anymore when you give them enough of it. He obviously lived for his money, not his family. - inactive, on 01/07/2009, -3/+38Really? This cowardly ***** couldn't handle losing most (but not all) of his money, so he put his family and friends (not to mention the train crew) through hell. His ending wasn't tragic, it was pathetic.
- Fratz, on 01/07/2009, -3/+34Yet more evidence that the US would benefit from having more trains.
- moulin1, on 01/07/2009, -2/+24Short selling billions has nothing to do with the world's current financial crisis. Merckle's "stock-market gamble failed". You can call it a gambling problem or you can call it over-reaching greed but Merckle is not a victim of circumstance.
- GREEDOnvrFIRED, on 01/07/2009, -2/+23You don't commit suicide by throwing yourself under a train. That train has an operator and your actions could cause him to suffer great and unnecessary guilt. Rich inconsiderate bastard.
- Fratz, on 01/07/2009, -0/+19He was 74. Do the math.
- Bloodwine, on 01/07/2009, -6/+23Good riddance. If a man values life by only his possessions, he was already dead.
- thumbwar, on 01/07/2009, -5/+20Condolences to his family. Must be very difficult for them.
- EricSchC1, on 01/07/2009, -3/+15Agreed. Also, any billionaire who didn't turn into a spoiled pansy would've said "***** it, I made that much once, I'll do it again!"
- rvandy, on 01/07/2009, -0/+11"To be truly happy, you have to spend all your money on heroin." - Jimmy Carter
- frostbyt, on 01/07/2009, -3/+13I feel bad for his family. I say my next statement with respect.
He took the cowards way out.
Sure times can get tough. But you have to be tougher. - RetepNamenots, on 01/07/2009, -1/+11Plus the fact that his death will cost his community millions more.
- simpleid, on 01/07/2009, -0/+7But have you ever been happy while not a billionaire?
- MrFisty, on 01/07/2009, -1/+8And the poor train driver.
- nebkiwi, on 01/07/2009, -0/+7happiness is the password to twitter.
- unicornrose, on 01/07/2009, -1/+8I dont think its the money that he died over. I think its the loss of jobs and things like that he died over. The man's life long legacy was falling apart. If you spent your entire life building something and then all of a sudden in a matter of months it was unraveling and falling apart you probably would get overwhelmed too.
My condolences to his family and friends. - lynx44, on 01/07/2009, -1/+8Well he was 74, most people at that age would have a hard time taking up that kind of attitude. It took him his whole life to get that far, I don't think he had enough time to even pay off that enormous debt, let alone make anything back.
Still, I agree that he was a coward for killing himself. Now he just leaves everyone else with his mess. - skipdog172, on 01/07/2009, -2/+9Shame can be a powerful thing...especially when you already have the respect of so many.
- vidalsasoon, on 01/07/2009, -2/+82 chicks at the same time. (x1000)
- inactive, on 01/07/2009, -0/+6*crickets*
- tavallai, on 01/07/2009, -0/+5Boo frickity hoo.
- nesagwa, on 01/07/2009, -0/+5Sounds like a bad Twilight Zone episode.
- Onion575, on 01/07/2009, -1/+6Yeah, I'd kill myself too if I only had a billion left in the bank. I feel for the guy.
- chuckDontSurf, on 01/07/2009, -1/+6It would've been cooler if he would've actually tied himself to the train tracks.
- inactive, on 01/07/2009, -3/+8No hes dead. Heaven doesn't exist.
- CoD4, on 01/07/2009, -0/+5Didn't you hear?
"If bill gates woke up tomorrow with oprah's money, he'd jump out the window" - FreddieD, on 01/07/2009, -0/+4"And slit his throat on the way down!"
I guess this puts a hole into Chris Rock's theory between rich and wealthy. "The difference? Shaq is rich. The guy who signs Shaq's paycheck is wealthy. You can't get RID of wealth." - Leviathan433, on 01/07/2009, -4/+8But have you ever been a billionaire?
- Macgyrl64, on 01/07/2009, -0/+4He bet against a company to make more money and didn't, losing more than he bet. hmmm sounds like greed to me.
I'm sure there is more here than meets the eye. Condolensces to his family but I'm not shedding any tears. One Billionaire down, a thousand more to go. - Demener, on 01/07/2009, -0/+41: Declare his corporations bankrupt.
2: Walk off with billions and watch his empire die in flames.
3: Profit
hmm guess he preferred
1: Commit suicide.
2: Have successors deal with crumbling empire.
3: Profit - Demener, on 01/07/2009, -3/+7david can't prove it doesn't exist.
hick can't prove it does.
Argument that will never end round [really large number]... GO! - oldhick, on 01/07/2009, -0/+450 Million dollars isn't poor.
- CrazedLeper, on 01/07/2009, -3/+7One less billionaire. Good riddance.
- GREEDOnvrFIRED, on 01/07/2009, -4/+8My condolences to his friends and family. (It must hurt to find out you mean less to someone than cash.)
- nkassi, on 01/07/2009, -3/+7or maybe the fact that you have to live with the fact that you caused tons of people misery when their job is cut due to a firesale of his company and other assets. He screwed more then just himself in this.
It's easy to talk ***** when you are insignificant and no one depends on you. - LilRabbitFooFoo, on 01/07/2009, -1/+5This smells like...
MURDER. - Headinawheel, on 01/07/2009, -3/+6The thing is, he didn't kill himself over his sudden poverty, but rather because he was so depressed he was having his life's work demolished. As said in the article, he was going to be forced to sell his controlling stakes in the exact companies he built from the ground up, to get the bridge loan. After the global economy started going farther and farther down, he simply became depressed because all of his effort for his entire life was being destroyed.
It's...rather sad. - mrfunktastic, on 01/07/2009, -1/+4Maybe it's the other way 'round - it takes a true sociopath to become a billionaire?
- DeFex, on 01/07/2009, -0/+3"possible suicide"
- cle2105, on 01/07/2009, -2/+5You must be a fellow follower of the wise Notorious B.I.G.
"Mo' money, mo' problems" - Biggie Smalls 2:10 - MonkeyOverlord, on 01/07/2009, -3/+6I feel some pity for him, but he should have been a man about this by sticking around and doing everything in his power to gets these companies back in good shape. If he really felt crushed, he should have also felt obligated to do what he could to make things right, and suicide doesn't do that.
- pault107, on 01/08/2009, -0/+3I was confused at how his short selling failed in the current economic climate so I did a bit of research. It turns out that he short sold VW shares and then Porshe came in and bought VW, tripling the share price and hence Adolf lost $539 million.
- jhails, on 01/07/2009, -2/+5I've already gotten over his death. Can we move on to other likely candidates? Perhaps a few politicians, some wall street bankers and a couple of American Auto execs should join the ranks.
- grogerity, on 01/07/2009, -1/+4I don't mean to be a jerk here, but is quiting and taking a few million to Brazil and living your rest of your days there worse than killing yourself? It's not like he is a sole proprioter in these companies he runs, he can let them go bankrupt.
- javip, on 01/07/2009, -0/+3finally someone with half a brain commenting on this story
- maexn, on 01/08/2009, -0/+3exactly, it was entirely his fault and had nothing to do with the crisis the economy is in.
also he used firm which had no use at all, but getting used to gamble with money at the stockmarket. he used crazy schemes, with his companies so he could evade paying taxes, this was legal but a very grey area. sadly i only found this articles in german :( but be assured he was one greedy old man .... condolences to his family but i find it kind of hard to feel sorry for him. - RumpleForeskin3, on 01/07/2009, -0/+3"He'll reincarnate into a _______ fill in the blank"
Train? - Plasmatica, on 01/07/2009, -0/+2It's 1934 and Merckle's parents are trying to think of a name for their brand new baby son. Meanwhile a man, already known for his attempted coup d'état, rose to power as the leader of the Nazi party. "Oh, I know", said old man Merckle, "We will name him Adolf. That's a swell name." Mother Merckle agreed and they lived happily ever after...until little Adolf killed himself. The End.
Yeah, they were either Nazi's or very ignorant of current events. - solid12345, on 01/07/2009, -0/+2Can't really blame the guy, he is 74 years-old, doubt he knows how to do his own laundry, pump his own gas, and I sure as hell don't want to spend the rest of my years in a feces-infested third rate retirement home.
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