Is it really possible that another person connected to the Clintons was found as a victim of suicide?
Billionaire private equity financier Thomas H. Lee, 78, was found dead in his Fifth Avenue Manhattan office on Thursday. Preliminary findings indicated he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police were called mid-morning on Thursday and EMTs determined that the 78-year-old was dead. The medical examiner will investigate to officially determine the cause of death.
Lee, a good friend of the Clintons, was one of the first to employ leveraged buyouts, which is purchasing companies using money that is borrowed against the company being bought.
“The family is extremely saddened by Tom’s death. 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,” Lee family friend and spokesperson Michael Sitrick said in a statement.
Lee founded Thomas H. Lee Partners in 1974. He left that company to form Lee Equity Partners in 2006. He was a big philanthropist, contributing to many art-related organizations including the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He also gave $22 million to Harvard University.
One of Lee’s most notable moves was the orchestration of the sale of Snapple for $1.7 billion in 1994 two years after he bought it. His return was 32 times equity and his worth rose to $2 billion at his death.
After Hillary lost the 2008 primary to Barack Obama, she and Bill stayed at Lee’s East Hampton estate. He was a donor and bundler for Hillary Clinton, especially during her run in 2016.
This news comes on the heels of a police report on former special advisor to Bill Clinton, Mark Middleton. He supposedly committed suicide last year, but the report showed that he was shot in the chest and there was no gun on the scene.
Watch:
