The acting CFO of Freddie Mac has been found dead in his basement, an apparent suicide. He's one of the executive team who has been clashing with regulators over how much to disclose about the ways the government has been running the company for its benefit, rather than that of the shareholders.
The pressure of his job, the public spotlight, and the clashes with regulators probably contributed to this. But there's no reason to blame either the regulators, or some dark scandal, as I imagine some commentators will try to. Kellerman wasn't tainted by the entity's earlier problems, and you don't commit suicide because you're mad at regulators. You commit suicide because you have deep mental health issues.
Still, this isn't exactly going to make it easier to put Freddie Mac back together. It's an institution with deep problems that seem to be getting worse, rather than better.
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I agree with you regarding deep mental health issues as a reason why people commit suicide.
Nonetheless, it is interesting, and rather sad, that the present financial crisis has caused these suicides. There are a number of other suicides, and murder-suicides I have heard reported in the media. It is rather hard to conclude that at least some of these, such as that of Kellerman, do not find their proximate cause in the financial crisis.
It's worth noting that the guy was "acting" CFO.
Right now Freddie Mac has an "interim" CEO, no President or COO, and no permanent CFO.
From what I've read, qualified people are not exactly lining up for these jobs at, as par for the course, what's turned into a typical government boondoggle - pissing away billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars.
Senator Grassley should be pleased that someone took his ideas to heart.
i feel sorry for his family and friends - this *will* (all other things being equal) make it harder for FreddieMac to attract qualified candidates for a whole bunch of positions
CNBC showing helicopter-based (I assume it's not a crane shot) tv footage outside his house - that is just heinous and reprehensible
he worked at Freddie for 16yrs, so for sure he knew lots of the past decade's activities and linkages to various political "interventions" from within the beltway........if you are willing to entertain some TomClancey/RobertLudlum-esque dirty tricks spooks activity here....just sayin'
Condolences.
You're right that this could easily be personal and totally unrelated to the financial crisis. But it reminded me of interviews I've seen on the massacre in Rwanda. The UN guy that was there on the ground and fought hard to save people was haunted by what happened, even though he'd done all he could. On the other hand, those that walked away and did nothing (both at the UN and in the Clinton administration, where they wouldn't even block the radio transmissions giving the names, home addresses and license plate numbers of the targets) didn't seem troubled at all, beyond lip service.
The people who feel worst about what happened aren't necessarily the ones that are most to blame.
Life is a 'deep mental health issue.' Most people kill themselves for the same reason many people die. 'Normally' a person dies when they see that their situation is hopeless and give up. One imagines that the CFO position might have been a position of conflicting pressures/ demands and loyalties both to individuals and to a sense of right and wrong/ honor. Also there could be a sense of abandonment related to people one had trusted. When the Nazis took over Vienna, Anna Freud reportedly asked her father if she or they should commit suicide. S. Freud responded to her, 'Do you think they (the Nazis) would like us any better?' The implication of his words was that to kill oneself would be to try to ingratiate oneself and thus be liked better by the people who hated them which really would make no sense. Religion also may play a role. People faced with losses or humiliation may recall that Jesus faced the same and yet was not humiliated and may feel that 'They have friend in Jesus' and go on.
"You commit suicide because you have deep mental health issues."
Not in all cases. People have also committed suicide as a form of protest, or to make a political statement. I'm not saying that was the case with Kellerman, but I wouldn't assume the man was mentally ill either. There are reasons a sane man might want to kill himself.
" ... People have also committed suicide as a form of protest, or to make a political statement. ..."
Or to save their families from financial ruin if they think that they are about to be indicted for some alleged crime where the cost of a legal defense would drive them into bankruptcy.
I'm certainly not saying that is the case here,since I know absolutely nothing about this guy. But it HAS happened before; there was a spectacular case in Pennsylvania about 10 or 20 years ago where some politician (I think, but I've forgotten the details) committed suicide on the six-o'clock news after he had been convicted of something-or-other, but before he had been formally sentenced. By doing that, his family was able to keep his (very large!) government pension that would otherwise have been forfeited.
Yeah, I can see a perfectly reasonable man choosing to kill himself rather than, say, spend the rest of his life in prison.
given the quality/value of his (and by extension, his family's) investment in the shares of FreddieMac (accumulated prior to summer08) and assuming well-established life insurance (ie. in effect for more than 2yrs) he was definitely worth more dead than alive - a condition not unfamiliar to many other financial workers the world over, i suspect
but if i was doing the noble exit in order to invoke life insurance payout for my family, i sure as hell wouldn't do it in the family home (ie. who's gonna discover my remains, etc.)
in this day and age, it would be very likely that blogposts/emails/twitter would be used to leave behind the note in order to finger individuals by the deceased, if that was part of the "plan"
Nonsense. From his biography at Freddie Mac:
Wasn't tainted? Riiiight. He was the one producing financial statements.
Well, crap. I fouled up the link.
http://www.freddiemac.com/bios/exec/kellermann.html
Sorrow for the family, suspicion for the circumstances;
The man must have been conflicted beyond belief;
Responsible for producing accurate data,
liable for past actions which might be revealed thereby.
Three questions:
1) Can one fault the Administration for leaving this man
in this position ?
2) Has any data been lost as a result of his death ?
3) Who gains by his death ?
Are you serious?
You are serious.
Ah, the noble tradition of seppuku.
Of course, here in the West, suicide is viewed as cowardly. We expect people to live with their mistakes.