It's A Start

The founder of an investment fund that lost $1.4 billion with Bernard Madoff was discovered dead after committing suicide at his Manhattan office. Cheers!

Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet (65) was found sitting at his desk at about 8 a.m. this morning with both wrists slashed. A box cutter was found on the floor along with a bottle of sleeping pills on his desk. No suicide note was found.

De la Villehuchet was one of several fund managers to be hit hard in Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Investment funds that lost big to Madoff are also facing backlash and investor lawsuits for not protecting their clients from the alleged fraud.

On Monday night, he told cleaning crews in his building that he wanted them out of his office by 7 p.m. because he was going to be working late. Workers returned Tuesday morning and found the door locked. He was later discovered dead at his desk, with a garbage can placed near his body to apparently catch the blood. I guess after losing almost $1.5 billion, why make a bigger mess.

De la Villehuchet was a prominent investor who came from a long line of aristocratic Frenchmen, with the Magon part of his name referring to one of France's most powerful families. And one of the gayest sounding. The Magon name is even listed on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, a world-famous monument that was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806. His fund enlisted intermediaries with links to the cream of Europe's high society to garner clients. 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 CEO 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. "He was a very honorable man," a friend 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." Yes, the rich, thieving privileged type. Good riddance.