American billionaire Thomas Lee, who was considered a pioneer of private equity investment and leveraged buyouts, died by suicide at the age of 78 at his Manhattan office on Thursday, according to a report in the New York Post.
When police responded to an emergency 911 call at his Fifth Avenue Manhattan office, the headquarters of his investment firm, on Thursday morning around 11:10 a.m. local time, the businessman was declared dead. Mr. Lee died from a “self-inflicted gunshot wound,” according to the outlet, and all attempts to save his life were futile. A female assistant in his office noticed him on the bathroom floor. She had gone to look for him after not hearing from him since the morning.
Furthermore, the first responders found Mr. Lee “lying on his side with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head”.
According to a report in Fox News, Thomas Lee’s family friend and spokesperson Michael Sitrick said in a statement, “The family is extremely saddened by Tom’s death. While the world knew him as one of the pioneers in the private equity business and a successful businessman, we knew him as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, sibling, friend, and philanthropist who always put others’ needs before his own.”
Thomas Lee was the Founder and Chairman of Lee Equity, which he founded in 2006 and previously served as Chairman and CEO of Thomas H. Lee Partners, which he founded in 1974. The Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Art, Brandeis University, Harvard University, and the Museum of Jewish Heritage were among the institutions he served on the boards of as a trustee and philanthropist.
Over the past 46 years, the billionaire has invested more than $15 billion in hundreds of transactions, including the purchase and subsequent sale of well-known brands such as Warner Music and Snapple Beverages. Reportedly, he was one of the first financiers to buy businesses using money borrowed against the business entity. A “leveraged buyout” is now the term for it.
