Investor who lost $1.4B to Madoff kills himself

[Richard]

By ADAM GOLDMAN, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 35 mins ago
 
NEW YORK – He was a distinguished investor who traced his lineage to the French aristocracy, hobnobbed with members of European high society and sailed around the world on fancy yachts.

But after losing more than $1 billion of his clients' money to Bernard Madoff, Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet had enough. He locked the door of his Madison Avenue office and apparently swallowed sleeping pills and slashed his wrists with a box cutter, police said.

A security guard found his body Tuesday morning, next to a garbage can placed to catch the blood.

The bloody scene marked a grisly turn in the Madoff scandal in which money managers and investors were ensnared in an alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme. De la Villehuchet is believed to have lost about $1.4 billion to Madoff.

No suicide note was found, said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.

De la Villehuchet, 65, was an esteemed financier who tapped his upper-crust European connections to attract clients. It was not immediately clear how he knew Madoff or who his clients were.

He grew increasingly subdued after the Madoff scandal broke, drawing suspicion among janitors at his office Monday night when he demanded that they be out of there by 7 p.m. Less than 13 hours later, his body was found.

His death came as swindled investors began looking for ways to recoup their losses. Funds that lost big to Madoff are also facing investor lawsuits and backlash for failing to properly vet Madoff and overlooking red flags that could have steered them away. It's not immediately known what kind of scrutiny de la Villehuchet was facing over his losses.

De la Villehuchet (pronounced veel-ou-SHAY) comes from rich French lineage, with the Magon part of his name referring to one of France's most powerful families. The Magon name is even listed on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, a monument commissioned by Napoleon in 1806.

"He's irreproachable," said Bill Rapavy, who was Access International's chief operating officer before founding his own firm in 2007.

De la Villehuchet's firm enlisted intermediaries with links to wealthy Europeans to garner investors. Among them was Philippe Junot, a French businessman and friend who is the former husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco, and Prince Michel of Yugoslavia.

De la Villehuchet, the former chairman and chief executive of Credit Lyonnais Securities USA, was also known as a keen sailor who regularly participated in regattas and was a member of the New York Yacht Club.

He lived in an affluent suburb in Westchester County with his wife, Claudine. They have no children. There was no answer Tuesday at the family's two-story house. Phone calls to the home and de la Villehuchet's office went unanswered.

Guy Gurney, a British photographer living in Connecticut, was friends with de la Villehuchet. The two often sailed together and competed in a regatta in France in November.

"He was a very honorable man," Gurney said. "He was extraordinarily generous. He was an aristocrat but not a snob. He was a real person. When he was sailing, he was one of the boys."

The two were supposed to have dinner last Friday but Gurney called the day before to cancel because of the weather. But during the call, de la Villehuchet revealed he had been ensnared in Madoff scandal.

"He sounded very subdued," Gurney said.

Gurney said de la Villehuchet was happily married to his wife.

"I can't imagine what it's like for her now," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081224/ap_o...emmFkEtbAF

[AndrewX]

One must wonder what on earth was a man of such weak substance doing in control of so much money? I see this happening alot. So called powerful people that yield the power of a bag of Buck'sFizz... look at GWBush even.

You loose it, so what? Life and all in it MUST end?lolol

Leave me alone, it's just paper money for crying out loud.

What a fool.

[Richard]

I can imagine how he felt losing an over a billion dollars of his clients money and millions of his own. I wouldn’t want to deal with that situation either but I wouldn’t kill myself over it. Here's an update to the story.

Brother: Madoff suicide investor lost own money

By GREG KELLER, AP Business Writer Greg Keller, Ap Business Writer
Fri Dec 26, 4:55 pm ET
 
PARIS – The French financier who killed himself after losing more than $1 billion of his clients' investments to Bernard Madoff's alleged fraud also saw his own family's money disappear, his older brother told The Associated Press on Friday.

Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet and his business partner Patrick Littaye were "totally ruined," Bertrand Magon de la Villehuchet said in a telephone interview from his home on Paris' chic Place des Vosges.

Bertrand, 74, said his brother had "invested his own fortune" with Madoff — up to several tens of millions of dollars — along with money from friends and family.

Rene-Thierry, 65, was found dead at his desk in the New York office of Access International Advisors on Tuesday, both of his wrists slashed. A box cutter and a bottle of sleeping pills lay nearby. Police say it was a suicide.

Rene-Thierry had begun investing with Madoff three or four years ago and had a total of $1.4 billion invested with him when the scandal came crashing down, according to his brother.

"At first he thought he'd be able to get the money back. He was very determined. Gradually he realized he wouldn't be able to," Bertrand said.

"He trusted Madoff completely," he said.

Madoff, 70, was arrested Dec. 11 and allegedly told FBI agents he had masterminded a $50 billion Ponzi scheme that ensnared investors far and wide, from retirees to charities to the International Olympic Committee.

Madoff, a former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market, has since become one of the most vilified people in America.

Rene-Thierry's fund was among the biggest losers in the scheme, and one of a handful to get taken for more than $1 billion.

Famous names reported to have lost their investment with him include L'Oreal cosmetic empire heiress Lilliane Bettencourt, listed by Forbes as the world's richest woman. Bertrand declined to identify any of his brother's investors outside the family.

Bertrand said he spoke with his brother almost every day. "My brother was a man of simple tastes," he said. "He was a very modest man.

"A lot is being said about him, like that he flew in by helicopter to his chateau — that's not true," Bertrand added.

Bertrand said he'll be joining class action lawsuits against Madoff and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Rene-Thierry raised the money he placed with Madoff from friends and family. Bertrand said he lost 20 percent of his own savings in the scam.

Contrary to what some analysts say now, Bertrand said the returns on his investment with Madoff weren't too good to be true.

"Over four years my gain was 17 percent — that's not crazy," he said.

The Magon de la Villehuchet family built its fortune in shipping during the 17th century according to Georges le Gorgeu, a historian in Plouer-sur-Rance, where the clan has owned a chateau for several hundred years.

The family was so rich and prominent that it loaned money to France's Sun King, Louis XIV, who ennobled them, le Gorgeu said. Many of Rene-Thierry's and Bertrand's aristocratic ancestors died on the guillotine during the French revolution, le Gorgeu said.

Rene-Thierry, who had married and had one sister, spent every August at the chateau, his brother said. In recent years he'd invested a considerable sum to renovate the chateau and protect its archives, which date back to 1200, le Gorgeu said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081226/ap_o...5U1mMEtbAF