Billionaire Merckle Killed by Train, Die Welt Reports, Possible Suicide

German newspaper Die Welt is reporting that German billionaire Adolf Merckle, whose investment company was renegotiating its bank debt, died after he was hit by a train and may have committed suicide, Die Welt reported.

Merckle was struck near his hometown of Blaubeuren, southeast of Stuttgart, yesterday evening, the German newspaper said on its Web site today. Police said he may have killed himself, the newspaper said.

Yep, another investment baron to fall flat on his face. Merckle had lost money from a series of wrong-way bets on Volkswagen AG, a drop in the value of his HeidelbergCement AG stake and increasing debt. The 74-year-old, whose estimated $9.2 billion fortune put him 94th on Forbes’s list of the world’s richest people, was negotiating with banks on a bridge loan to rescue his investment company VEM Vermoegensverwaltung GmbH.

Merckle was to get more than $547 million in bridge loans to rescue VEM, Financial Times Deutschland reported yesterday, citing unidentified bankers. I hate to say it, but Merckle won't be the last to kill himself over bad investments. It isn't everyday that people leisurely stroll on the railroad tracks and get hit by a passing train, unless of course, they wanted to get killed.