President and CEO of investment manager Rockefeller & Co. found dead in Mass.

[KoKo]

Source: BOSTON (AP)


NY investment manager found dead in Mass.
President and CEO of investment manager Rockefeller & Co. found dead in Mass.

* By Mark Pratt, Associated Press Writer
* On Tuesday September 15, 2009, 1:08 pm EDT


BOSTON (AP) -- James S. McDonald, president and chief executive of investment management firm Rockefeller & Co., has died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, Massachusetts authorities said Tuesday.

McDonald, 56, was found in his vehicle at about 3 p.m. Sunday behind a car dealership in Dartmouth, about 50 miles south of Boston, said Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for the Bristol district attorney's office.

There was no note, but McDonald "made a phone call to his wife earlier in the day," Miliote said Tuesday, without getting into specifics of the call. The death is still under investigation.

Barclay McFadden III, a longtime friend, said McDonald "took his own life," and added that neither he nor the family had further comment.

McDonald had been president and chief executive of the New York investment manager since 2001. The company was started in 1882 by John D. Rockefeller to manage the family's assets.

Rockefeller & Co., which also has offices in Boston, Washington and Wilmington, Del., offers wealth and investment management services to families, foundations and endowments. The company had $25 billion in assets under administration at the end of last year, according to its Web site.

"Jim McDonald was an exceptional individual, who provided strong leadership of Rockefeller and Company for over eight years," board Chairman Colin Campbell said in a statement. "He will be missed by all of us privileged to have known and worked with him."

Austin Shapard, the company's chief operating and financial officer, has assumed day-to-day leadership of Rockefeller & Co.

McDonald, a New York City resident, was also on the board of stock exchange operator NYSE Euronext. He was formerly on the board of CIT Group Inc.

"The NYSE Euronext community offers our deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Jim McDonald, an outstanding and accomplished individual who served our capital markets and NYSE Euronext with great commitment and integrity," spokesman Rich Adamonis said.

He had been on the board since 2003 and headed the audit committee.


Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/NY-investment-manager-found-apf-2715028534.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=6&asset=&ccode=

[Demeter]

1. He Isn't the First, and Won't Be the Last

Round two of the Greater Depression, aka The BushWhacked Years, commences right about now.

[AlbertCat]

2. Huh. What a shame. I guess money doesn't make you happy.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. One down and a few million more to go

Good riddance to one more robber baron.

[Jo March]

4. It makes you wonder if something was going to come out

perhaps some dirty dealings, some mismanagement or something.

I feel so bad for his family.

[DeSwiss]

5. "The company had $25 billion in assets under administration at the end of last year..."

- I wonder how much it has now?

K&R

[mitchum]

6. That saves wear and tear on the guillotine

[Joanne98]

7. He probably lost a lot of the 25 billion.

[rooboy]

8. 2 things sure to bring you down... money and the opposite sex. n/t

[KoKo]

9. Re-reading...Seems this guy was AUDITOR of NSDAQ! Not Rockefeller Fund...More Interesting!

[KoKo]

10. If DU Rules for LBN would have allowed: NASDAQ AUDITOR..SHOT BRAINS OUT!

It would have been inflammatory...but would have been the "news" behind the AP Healine?

Thanks to "partner" for pointing that out to me after reading the article.

[Vidar]

11. Another greedy bastard bites the dust. Boo hoo.

[KoKo]

15. Follow the BIG MONEY...don't Fluff this off...It goes to our Democracy...Ha! Ha!

Really...all laughing aside, it does.

[classics]

12. Yay

Who cares.

[geckosfeet]

13. He brought the gun across state lines. Breaking laws right until the end.

[KoKo]

14. Do you have a link? I only have the link I posted from Yahoo...

This story would seem to have "legs." The guy was an auditor for NASDAQ and on the Board of Rockefeller Fund. He's an awfully "BIG GUY" to shoot his brains out. Gotta be more here than this snip.

[Control-Z]

16. Something really big

must be missing. $$$