Obviously trying to figure out why David Kellerman committed suicide is completely morbid and something of a pointless exercise, since we'll never actually know. Freddie Mac seems to believe (or is just saying) that it knows of "no connection between this terrible personal tragedy and the ongoing regulatory inquiries discussed in our recent SEC filing," according to spokesman David Palombi. Could the public outrage over his bonus have played a part?
Mr. Kellermann, 41, had been Freddie Mac's chief financial officer since September. He was named to the position when the federal government seized the company and ousted its top executives last fall. In recent weeks, according to neighbors and company officials, Mr. Kellermann had received a bonus of about $800,000. Such bonuses -- which totaled $210 million for executives at Freddie Mac and its sibling company Fannie Mae -- caused some controversy earlier this month, and some lawmakers called for them to be rescinded.According to neighbors, Mr. Kellermann hired a private security firm after reporters came to his house to ask about his bonus.
Freddie Mac Executive Found Dead [NYT]
Related: Grassley: I Was Completely Just Messing About Telling AIG Execs To Kill Themselves
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:53PM
NFW
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:53PM
GM defaults...ha...this will be an interesting day
Posted by chernevik , Apr 22, 2009 12:55PM
DB may be morbid and pointless, but at least you're honest about it. I guess that's something.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:56PM
Did he hire a masseuse off of craigslist?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 12:57PM
Vince Foster'd. Hillary did it.
Posted by Investorcluzo , Apr 22, 2009 12:57PM
is senator grassley happy now? maybe he should stfu before he has more blood on his hands...who elected that a$$clown?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:00PM
@3- a pointless website you read and comment on. making you yourself what, exactly?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:04PM
At least he retained his honor; more of you fuckers should follow suit.
- Japanese guy
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:04PM
dammit almeida, WHO ARE YOU WORKING FOR?!?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:11PM
charlie gasparino: "when you take some time off you get to see what people are writing about you online."
Chaz walks among us.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:12PM
He was off'd by special agents from Goldman Sachs. He was going to spill the beans about spitzer and the plunge protection team.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:13PM
"My father's no differant than any other powerful man. Any man who's responsible for other people. Like presidents or senators."
"Do you know how naive you sound?"
"Why?"
"Senators and presidents don't have men killed."
"Oh. Who's being naive Kay?"
Gotta be a lot of covering up going on. Just sayin'
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:18PM
To be fair, Grassley only wants the AIG executives dead, he didn't say anything about Freddy Mac.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:19PM
Dylan Ratigan did it in a fit of rage.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:19PM
Maybe he was the source of the leaked stress test results....
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:25PM
i CANNOT believe that this august site is not covering the AMAZING news from pro wrestling star turned analist merdith whiney! he says:
commercial real estate is in trouble!
i know! i know! who knew? Everyone else has thought since the crash of august 2007 in commercial real estate that things were booming but hand it to the wrestler to see what others cannot!
SELLL SELLLLL SELLLLLLLLLLLL
Posted by chernevik , Apr 22, 2009 1:29PM
Poster 1:00pm --
One post does not a website make. And if DB didn't occasionally go over The Line, it wouldn't be DB would it?
But this is way over the line. At this point there is zero factual basis for any speculation about the man's reasons. Suggesting that "bonus shamers" bear responsibility for this is about as responsible as, well, "bonus shamers".
Any energy his family and colleagues have ought to be focused on getting themselves and one another forward and through this. Whipping this up as a meme in the national zeitgeist does them absolutely no good at all.
What's done is done, and posts shouldn't be pulled. But I think DB ought to admit out loud that this wasn't their best moment. And I read DB because I think they have the honesty to do just that, if they should happen to agree.
May God rest the soul of David Kellerman, and comfort those he has left behind.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:31PM
AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddic Mac, MS, they are all the same..........Grassley must be happy.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:32PM
@17 - Dave?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:41PM
@17- wrong. this is a legitimate question, considering that the populist rage over bonuses has gone too far (and went too far when the children of AIG execs were be threatened by decapitation via box cutter). DB doesn't have to "admit" anything.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:41PM
sounds like his private security force didn't do their job.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:44PM
@17 you are an idiot. The fact that the SEC has an ongoing dialogue with the GSE's and that Kellerman has been with the company for 16 years means that the reasons behind his suicide are potentially extremely important. Just like Ken Lay's "heart attack on a ski slope", this doesn't sound kosher.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:52PM
The guy was suffering from Mental Illness (ie, depression, etc.)
That is the only way someone kills themselves....
Whetther he was in debt, guilty, suffering from indignity, etc are all moot.
Madoff, Stanford, Dreier, Fuld. Raines (Fannie $25 Million bonus CEO) are/were all enjoyng martinis & lobsters...regardless of their situtation....and never contemplated suicide.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:54PM
Jan 26, 2002: Former Enron Corp. vice chairman J. Clifford Baxter was found dead in his car in a Houston suburb early Friday, the victim of an apparent suicide, police said.
Is this a copycat crime? (N.B. suicide is a crime)
Posted by FUNdamental , Apr 22, 2009 1:55PM
And yet barney sleeps soundly in the rugged, slightly hairy, arms of his significant other.
Posted by wcburrs87 , Apr 22, 2009 1:56PM
Goldman Sachs did it, Maxine told me.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 1:59PM
@22 Ken Lay was killed by Banquo's Ghost.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 2:00PM
I doubt all suicides and expect most or all of them are homicides. These guys are hyper-rational and know how to block out emotion. Guilt is not generally an emotion they are on speaking terms with. However they are playing a blood sport.
If the guy was feeling remorse over bonus, he could have returned the money, surely nobody was stopping him. Therefore I disagree with those who say the "bonus shamers" have some guilt.
Speaking of the Godfather comment, think of the guy waking up with the horse's head in bed with him.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 2:03PM
@22 - Agree, something seems off. Why kill yourself over a little populist outrage? There's something kinda Cliff Baxter-ish about this.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 2:05PM
I doubt all suicides and expect most or all of them are homicides. These guys are hyper-rational and know how to block out emotion. Guilt is not generally an emotion they are on speaking terms with. However they are playing a blood sport.
If the guy was feeling remorse over bonus, he could have returned the money, surely nobody was stopping him. Therefore I disagree with those who say the "bonus shamers" have some guilt.
Speaking of the Godfather comment, think of the guy waking up with the horse's head in bed with him.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 2:09PM
he's lucky he only had reporters come to his house. AIG execs were threatened by ACORN thugs
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 2:14PM
His widow won't get any insurance money, so I must conclude that he was about to be Spitzered.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 2:16PM
Maybe the guys from "The Star Chamber" killed him. Let's get Michael Douglass on the case.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 2:17PM
He was not high profile enough to be Spitzered. No one cares if an exec from any company gets out an has a couple prosties. Something is not right in the state of Denmark for sure.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 2:19PM
@32 Looks like he hated her so much he chose death. Or maybe this wasn't about insurance money ... he had just gotten his bonus and tax season just passed.
Just Sayin'
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 2:26PM
30 you're an idiot.
Posted by Lowly Assistant , Apr 22, 2009 2:27PM
Judging by this string of commentary, I'm placing my money on Colonel Chernevik with the rope in the study.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 2:32PM
30 you're an idiot.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 2:38PM
People commit suicide for various reasons. Those suggesting his demise was foul play must not know anybody who committed suicide.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 2:49PM
@39- how did this post suggest there was foul play?
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 2:54PM
@32, life insurance generally pays on suicide after some set waiting period (often two years), so his family will be taken care of.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 3:05PM
Was the family in danger of being kicked onto the street? what would be his financial reason for killing himself? I think he was a depressed guy who lived like a king and was very powerful in his industry. h elost it and ocunt take that. Either that or he was really into grundge music and heard Cobain calling...
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 3:16PM
I know 2 people who have committed suicide. In both cases they were in high profile businesses where they were well known among their peers. Both took care of personal business at their offices and didn't share financial talk with their spouses. Both were in deep debt that only they (and their creditors) knew about and had self medication issues. (First guy = alcohol, second guy = cocaine). Both got very drunk and both used a .38 pistol. Happened 7 years apart.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 3:16PM
So far, TGFD hasn't seen one post that addresses Kellerman's possible use of anti-depressant medications. It is well known that these drugs have been associated with suicides.
In all seriousness, I had my own experience with them. Paxil was TGFD's particular brand. They're very bad, very insidious.
After the dotcom bust, TGFD was depressed, and my physician prescribed Paxil to "keep me functioning" and to "get me through this difficulty".
It didn't happen immediately, but within a year, thoughts of "doing myself in" began to creep in. The worst part was that those thoughts started to actually make sense. It was scary, and I was ashamed to tell anyone.
I suspected that something wasn't right and that Paxil may have somehow been involved. Fortunately, at that time, I read a news article about that very subject. Paxil and other medications were named.
TGFD immediately threw the pils away, and I vowed to never take any of those meds again. A few days later, the thoughts went away too.
I believe that Kellerman may have been taking anti-depressant pills and that those pills led him to suicide.
Suicide made perfect sense to him, and it seemed like the right thing to do.
As I said, "insidious".
The Guy from Delaware
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 3:20PM
Unless the Mrs. has involved a third party (which means Papa usually offs the wife and kiddos first so they can go for the Heaven group discount) most "outgoing, friendly and terrific" people don't just go killing themselves like that.
Unless I hear about a stack of porn at his feet and a lack of pants whilst hanging, I will remain my usual paranoid and suspicious self.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 3:27PM
Don't laugh.....this worked for me.
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/depression/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100153237
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 3:36PM
What bullshit.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 3:40PM
@44 please leave immediately
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 3:46PM
48 That's TGFD - you don't know who your f'ing with.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 3:49PM
@48 There is a groud swell of support for TGFD, so don't mess with him or you will find a dead horses head under your pillow - if you have one.
- not @49
Posted by Equity Private , Apr 22, 2009 4:02PM
"I doubt all suicides and expect most or all of them are homicides."
All suicides are homicides. Suicides are a subclass of homicides.
-ep (Black's Law Dictionary Nazi)
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 5:39PM
@48--@49 is right. I think Kellerman probably messed with TGFD. You better watch your back.
@30--You should be the one leaving immediately. Idiot.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 6:13PM
I'm #30. Still here, hope you like my future comments as well.
I don't know about Black's Law Dictionary, or Nazis [ ;) ], but the police tend to use "homicide" to exclude suicide.
Posted by Seaman Bodine II , Apr 22, 2009 7:20PM
any man with kids that offs himself is a fucking pussy
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 7:37PM
@54 Unless he was clinically depressed, have to agree
Posted by Seaman Bodine II , Apr 22, 2009 7:44PM
any man with kids that's "clinically depressed" is a vagina of the hairiest proportion
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 7:44PM
someone with integrity at least, I wish you merrill lynch cocksuckers would do the same, oh I forgot you have zero integrity so you won't
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 8:04PM
oh shut the fuck up Seaman, your bull shit grew tiresome a while ago.
Posted by guest , Apr 22, 2009 9:11PM
Where the fuck is SPODE?
Posted by Seaman Bodine II , Apr 22, 2009 9:32PM
@58
still waiting to fight anyone at Trinity Boxing Club - I can EASILY say that up, if you're such a badass
Posted by guest , Apr 23, 2009 11:24AM
Back on topic. (I'm #30.)
He was murdered.