Bizarre deaths in the financial world

Just one on a lines of suicides

Chief economist’s apparent suicide is the latest in a series of bizarre deaths in the financial world this week

Financial Post,

31 January, 2014

Russell Investments’ Chief Economist Mike Dueker was found dead in an apparent suicide in the United States, the latest in a series of untimely deaths among finance workers and business leaders around the world this past week.

Police say it appears Dueker took his own life by jumping from a ramp near the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Tacoma, Wash., the AP reported Friday.

According to Bloomberg, Dueker, 50, had been missing since Jan. 29, and friends and law enforcement had been searching for him. From Bloomberg:

Dueker worked at Seattle-based Russell for five years, and developed a business-cycle index that forecast economic performance. He was previously an assistant vice president and research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

He published dozens of research papers over the past two decades, many on monetary policy, according to the St. Louis Fed’s website, which ranks him among the top 5% of economists by number of works published. His most-cited work was a 1997 paper titled “Strengthening the case for the yield curve as a predictor of U.S. recessions,” published by the reserve bank while he was a researcher there.

“We were deeply saddened to learn today of the death,” a company spokesperson told Bloomberg. “He made valuable contributions that helped our clients and many of his fellow associates.”

The suicide in the U.S. follows a series of deaths among finance workers and business leaders this past week.

On Sunday, Jan. 26, London police found William Broeksmit, a 58-year-old former senior executive at Deutsche Bank AG, dead in his home after an apparent suicide.

Monday, Jan. 27: Tata Motors managing director Karl Slym died after falling from a hotel room in Bangkok in what police said could be possible suicide.

Slym, 51, had attended a board meeting of Tata Motors’ Thailand unit in the Thai capital and was staying with his wife in a room on the 22nd floor of the Shangri-La hotel. Hotel staff found his body on Sunday on the fourth floor, which juts out above lower floors.

Tuesday, Jan. 28: a 39-year-old JP Morgan employee died after falling from the roof of the European headquarters of JP Morgan in London.

The man, Gabriel Magee, was a vice president in the investment bank’s technology department, a source told WSJ.

Last week, a U.K.-based communications director at Swiss Re AG died. The cause of death has not been made public.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the deaths among finance workers has shaken London and raised more concerns about stress levels of bankers.

It notes that last August, the finance chief at Zurich Insurance Group AG committed suicide and left a note blaming the company’s chairman for creating an unbearable work environment.

In August, a 21-year-old Bank of America intern died after reportedly working consecutive all-nighters at the bank’s London office.

Wall Street banks including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, subsequently told junior bankers to take more time off.

Third Banker, Former Fed Member, "Found Dead" Inside A Week

Zero Hedge,

1 February, 2014

If the stock market were already crashing then it would be simple to blame the dismally sad rash of dead bankers in the last week on that - certainly that was reflected in 1929. However, for the third time in the last week, a senior financial executive has died in what appears to be a suicide. As Bloomberg reports, following the deaths of a JPMorgan senior manager (Tuesday) and a Deutsche Bank executive (Sunday), Russell Investments' Chief Economist (and former Fed economist) Mike Dueker was found dead at the side of a highway in Washington State. Police said the death appeared to be a suicide.

Via Bloomberg,

Mike Dueker, the chief economist at Russell Investments, was found dead at the side of a highway that leads to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington state, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. He was 50.

 

He may have jumped over a 4-foot (1.2-meter) fence before falling down a 40- to 50-foot embankment, Pierce County Detective Ed Troyer said yesterday. He said the death appeared to be a suicide.

 

Dueker was reported missing on Jan. 29, and a group of friends had been searching for him along with law enforcement. Troyer said Dueker was having problems at work, without elaborating.

 

Dueker was in good standing at Russell, said Jennifer Tice, a company spokeswoman. She declined to comment on Troyer’s statement about Dueker’s work issues.

But as Michael Snyder noted recently, if the stock market was already crashing, it would be easy to blame the suicides on that.  The world certainly remembers what happened during the crash of 1929...

Historically, bankers have been stereotyped as the most likely to commit suicide. This has a lot to do with the famous 1929 stock market crash, which resulted in 1,616 banks failing and more than 20,000 businesses going bankrupt.

 

The number of bankers committing suicide directly after the crash is thought to have been only around 20, with another 100 people connected to the financial industry dying at their own hand within the year.

Dueker had also been a research economist at the St. Louis Fed:

He published dozens of research papers over the past two decades, many on monetary policy, according to the St. Louis Fed’s website, which ranks him among the top 5 percent of economists by number of works published. His most-cited work was a 1997 paper titled “Strengthening the case for the yield curve as a predictor of U.S. recessions,” published by the reserve bank while he was a researcher there.

So, with stocks a mere 4% off their highs, are so many high ranking and well respected bankers committing suicide?