A US billionaire financier who helped pioneer the debt-fuelled corporate acquisition known as a leveraged buyout has been found dead, his family says.
In a statement, Thomas H Lee’s family said they were “extremely saddened” by the 78-year-old’s death.
The New York Post reports that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his Manhattan office.
NYPD told the BBC an unnamed 78-year-old man had been found dead on Thursday morning at 767 Fifth Avenue.
The address is where the offices of Thomas H Lee Capital LLC are listed.
The police spokesman did not confirm the man had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, noting the cause of death would be for a medical examiner to determine.
In a statement to the BBC, police said they responded to a 911 call shortly after 11:00 (16:00 GMT) on Thursday morning coming from inside of an office on Fifth Avenue.
“Upon arrival EMS responded and pronounced the male deceased at the scene,” they said.
A statement by family friend and spokesman Michael Sitrick said: “While the world knew him as one of the pioneers in the private equity business and a successful businessman, we knew him as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, sibling, friend and philanthropist who always put others’ needs before his own.” (BBC)