Sunday, Sep 28, 2008
Sad news. Like 1929, I'm afraid we'll see a lot more of these banker suicides
Yahoo: Wealthy financier throws himself under a train
A wealthy financier said to be overwhelmed by the current global banking crisis has died after throwing himself in front of a commuter train.
Married father-of-one Kirk Stephenson, 47, chief operating officer at private equity firm Olivant, died on Thursday near Taplow station in Buckinghamshire, police said. Olivant came to prominence as one of the bidders for Northern Rock in 2006.
Mr Stephenson reportedly owned a £3.6 million house in Chelsea and another property in the West Country.
A source said: "I imagine, like most high-flying bankers, he will probably have lost a lot of cash recently as a result of the credit crunch. It appears the pressure became too much to bear. Figures close to Mr Stephenson are worried that news of his death will lead to speculation about his company."
26 Comments
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1. fubar said...
Money. It's never worth a price like this.
2. paul said...
The headline reads "Man killed by train", which is a very odd way of putting it.
If its suicide, the train didn't kill him, he killed himself.
3. beartil2010 said...
yes - you don't see 'man killed by gun' very often.
Devoted father - if his family was the most important thing he would not have done this.
4. Mikelivingstone said...
The train drive should be able to sue the banker's family for millions due to the emotional distress he has caused the driver.
5. Stevie Dee said...
Commiserations to the immediate family & friends. R.I.P.
6. japanese uncle said...
Did this man not consider for a moment, the suffering of those poor railway workers who had to sort out the mess caused by his reckless act (how traumatic it must be!!), let alone of the passengers annoyed by the delayed train schedule? Of course a Master of the Universe would not have cared a bit for those lowly workers. By the end of 2009 we will see dozens of cases like this. Life insurers may have to devise City loading (Hedge Fund manager loadingf in particular) for their premium calculation.
7. japanese uncle said...
One thing more: We may wish to remember that behind rach high profile report of hedge fund manager's demise, hundreds of thousands of people in the third countries are starved to death thanks to their criminal financial gamble that sent basic food price skyrocketing.
8. Lloyd said...
The coward's way out! What can I say except we told you so. Greed, greed, very greedy!!
9. planning4acrash said...
We must be circumspect here. Remember David Kelly? I don't believe anything the media says, and maybe, just maybe, some of the suicides are wannabe whilstleblowers. Wouldn't you put yourself on the line to save the public if you knew that you had worked for banks engineering a hyperinflationary depression to bring in a New World Order based on regional currencies on the failed Federal Reserve System model (Borrowed from England), to be funded by a regulation and carbon tax on everything you do, payable to the central banks that adminster the "Free Market" on carbon trading, including on breathing, well, Australia is planning to take away carbon credits for having more than one child, on the world's least populace country! Well, get them to accept it, and anybody will. All based on junk science.
10. japanese uncle said...
Is that relevant?
11. indiablue19 said...
I think the idea of control, even of life and death, in this scenario [as expressed above by planning3crash] is somewhat relevant in this way: that vacuuming up the banking system, removing currencies and apportioning "credits" to the rest of us that we can deduct from a nebulous account to buy food or otherwise pay our way DOES seem, like it or not, part of some financial conspiracy and thought of long ago by some organization that likes the idea of millions of CCTV cameras that, except for accustoming us to surveillance all day long, serve little purpose. After all, isn't it the ultimate control to simply be able to "turn off" one's access to credit - there being no real money or even gold transactions - if the powers that be are in a huff at an individual? Isn't that financial murder and becoming ever more possible in the conditions which are being created?Knowing how little some folks on here like the idea of these financial crises having been overall manufactured, the circumstances still beg the question: could people who run the world and own all it's assets among them really be so unremittingly dumb?
12. sold out said...
where's the miniture violin picture?
13. mountain goat said...
I grew up in South Africa where it was fairly common for men to kill themselves and their whole family as the life they knew fell apart. Successful people are often successful because they have a very narrow focus on life. They wouldn't dream of "wasting time" reading diverse opinions as you get on a blog like this for example. However, for people like us who think it is time well spent, the idea of killing yourself just because things are falling apart seems unthinkable.
14. down wave said...
This is extremely selfish and malevolent of this man, to traumatise a train driver and all of the
police that had to clear up the mess, not to mention the disruption to the rail service. And then
there is his family. Steadfastness, fortitude and a siff uper lip is the only way through this.
15. cornishman said...
"Figures close to Mr Stephenson are worried that news of his death will lead to speculation about his company"
Perhaps if 'figures close to Mr Stephenson' had been more worried about Mr Stephenson's wellbeing instead of his company - he might still be here...
How sad.
16. sold 2 rent 1 said...
His consciousness couldn't move on with the preset global timetable and so he failed this evolutionary test.
We will all be faced with such tests as we zoom into the singularity.
Evolution clue: Adapt or Die
17. mark said...
maybe this guy knows something we all dont!!!!!!!
18. jack c said...
mark said...Sunday, September 28, 2008 11:40AM - "maybe this guy knows something we all dont!!!!!!!" - perhaps he had advance notification of the contents of Jim Cramers Mad Money TV program, Friday, September 26 - I'll now post up the link as a fresh article.
19. enuii said...
Downwave @ 11, the Police don't actually clean the mess up private contractors do and their workers earn up to 40K p.a. and are generally the same ones you will see on the motorway recovering RTA's.
20. su said...
Anyone who has gone through a severe depression themselves (or have seen a close friend or family member go through it) will know that rational thought doesn't come into it. Depression is an illness because the body (in this case the brain) is not functioning correctly. Faulty thought processes can lead the person to genuinely believe that suicide is the only way out, and that their family etc would be better off if the person ceased to exist.
21. Campin said...
well to pass with the camel through the eye of that needle positioned on the tip of a speeding train.
at least he didnt take his family with him...god bless the child
22. matt_the_hat said...
what a callous lot we have posting on here these days!!
I thought this site was different, people who believed everyone had a right to cheap affordable housing and not greedy speculation. Some of the previous posts about possible delays to the train service are unbelievable. I conclude the only difference between the greedy BTLers and 90% of the people who post on here is they are sorry for themselves that they missed the bubble and smug that people are now losing money. When we a grow up mankind may have a chance, until till then cycles of greed and fear now seem a permanent way of life.
23. theboltonfury said...
matt the hat. The other day I didn't think I' could ever be in such agreement with you. Until you said point 22.
SOMEONE HAS DIED!! to those you have posted in such a callous manner, I just hope you are comfortable in yourseves, lets not have a conversation about the moral hazards of suicide when there is a familly in mourning.
s2R1 your pomposity about evolutionary tests is now bordering on appalling taste. Have a word with yourself...
24. last_days_of_disco said...
@su
You are right. People who commit suicide often are wonderful folks. They just get some crazy idea and believe it about themselves.
Its shockingly sad the stupid reasons people give for wanting to top themselves. I have experienced this with people I love. Good people,
several degrees, speak multiple languages, loved by everyone. Get burned out, exhausted, fail at something they care about and next thing
they are getting what they call "ideation". They start thinking of throwing themselves under passing cars and stuff.
Watch for it in the ones you love and the people around you. Remind them how important they are and how they are loved and valued unconditionally.
Say it, don't think it and then find them dead and mourn them forever. Tell them how important they are to you at least once a day, do it now.
It may have something chemical about it, but mostly its just crazy stupid thinking and not enough people around who are giving accurate sensible feedback helping the person to keep perspective. Perfectionists are particularly vulnerable, particularly mothers. They often bear a back breaking load of guilt and children are often cruel and feckless. Mothers are going to be under strain particularly in this crisis.
There is no good reason why this guy should have topped himself, but there is never a good reason. His kids don't care if he was a banker, they just want their daddy back. Yeah, lots of people died because of this financial system, but then lets charge him with a crime and prosecute him, not gloat over his untimely demise.
I know this is off topic but we are all going to face this issue with people around us who are wiped out. Keep reminding people that they are important to you, you may save a life.
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26. Orwell said...
There is a recorded incident or two in the USA in the 1920's depression, but the UK?!
And the Buy to Let / Hedge Fund dance has only just begun here!