HeidelbergCement shocked at Adolf Merckle suicide
DR Adolf Merckle, Germany’s fifth richest person and head of the business empire that owns HeidelbergCement, the parent company of Hanson, has committed suicide, apparently in despair over liquidity problems in his investment company, VEM, after being caught on the losing end of a short sale of Volkswagen shares, resulting in a loss of several hundred million euros.
The 74-year-old billionaire industrialist was found dead on a railway line close to his home near Ulm, in south-west Germany, on Monday night. At the time of his death, Dr Merckle had been entrenched in negotiations with numerous banks over bridging loans to keep his investment company afloat.
According to a family statement, the desperate situation of his companies, caused by the financial crisis, the uncertainties of the last few weeks and his powerlessness to act, broke the passionate family entrepreneur and he took his own life.
Expressing the company’s great shock over the death of Dr Merckle, a spokesperson for HeidelbergCement said: ‘As a shareholder and member of the supervisory board he had very close ties with our company for many decades.
‘Dr Merckle actively accompanied and marked the dynamic development of HeidelbergCement from a medium-sized southern German cement company to one of the world’s largest building materials producers. We owe him a lot of respect and thanks.’
