Talk:Adolf Merckle/Archives/2015

Hitler

His name was Adolf and he was born in Germany in 1934. Was he named after you-know-who?

Probably not. the name adolf was a very common name in the german speaking world up until the end of the second world war. A survey of wikipedia's article on the name Adolf will reveal a large number of people with that name born well before hitler came into power. While i have never met mr Merckle's parents to get the full story and ask them why they chose the name, the connection is fair too weak to include in the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.108.186.87 (talk) 22:35, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

If you're curious about this, check out the NameVoyager. This interactive tool traces the rise and fall in popularity of the more common first names for boys and girls from the 1880s to the present day. (Requires Java support in browser.) "Adolf" was not a very popular name anymore by the 1930s. My guess is that his namesake was an uncle or grandparent. —Quicksilver^{T @} 21:13, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

Lutheran

Why is this important? Any quotes from him about his religion before he died? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.222.247.36 (talk) 19:27, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

Why is this unimportant, unless you're an atheist troll? —Quicksilver^{T @} 21:27, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

Wealth / loss

The first line states he was one of the richest people in Germany, but the infobox states his wealth as minus US$9.2 billion. Is there a mistake in the article, or did he used to be a multimillionaire, but lost all of his, and $billions of other peoples, money? If the loss wealth figure is true, how was he able and allowed to lose so much money? Were people around him aware he lost so much money? F W Nietzsche (talk) 16:36, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

The does not indicate that the amount that follows is a loss but only that the net worth is less than it had been at its previous measure (the change is usually between editions of Forbes's "The World's Richest People"); see, e.g., the usage at List of the 100 wealthiest people (there the decrease/increase schema mark succeeds the amount, as perhaps, lest there should be confusion, it ought to in the net worth entries in {{Infobox person}}) and at certain of the biographies linked therefrom. Joe 23:58, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

German article

There is a longer article on Merckle on German Wikipedia. Could someone who is fluent in German and English translate some of it to this article - he sounds notable enough to have a longer article than this one. F W Nietzsche (talk) 16:40, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

I'd argue that Nietzsche is an even more notable German, and you don't even have your own user page! Thank you, I'll be here all night!

What I don't understand about this story is that he is said to have owned a fortune counted in billions, but his loss was in the millions. It sounds like he was not only still in black numbers, but very much so, and still a billionaire. Does anyone have an explanation for this? Are the figures stated in various articles incorrect? Or why else would someone commit suicide over losses when he is still a billionaire? Foul play here? --77.75.161.35 (talk) 22:32, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

The German Wikipedia article states definitively that a suicide note was found and that police have ruled out foul play. Just a guess, but he may have been suffering from depression, a condition that often clouds a person's judgment. —Quicksilver^{T @} 21:16, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

Reason for suicide?

I know this is still up for investigation, but did he commit suicide because him companies weren't doing well, or had he lost all of his money? This would be important to include in the article. Thanks. -- Andrew Parodi (talk) 00:45, 7 January 2009 (UTC)

Ele foi um grande homem, uma grande alma , mas como todos chegamos ao fim ; ele chegou
I have found this on Reuters.com, perhaps it will lead to some incite. http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE5065R220090107 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.141.177.53 (talk) 04:52, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

Interesting article. However, this is the English language Wikipedia. Please comment in English. —Quicksilver^{T @} 07:30, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

This article (Financial Casualty: Why Adolf Merckle Killed Himself, Time.com, Jan 06, 2009) says that "...banks had promised Merckle a €400 million bridge loan. The cost of the reprieve was high, however. Banks demanded that Merckle sell his stakes in HeidelbergCement, Ratiopharm and Phoenix Pharmahandel." --Jvs.cz (talk) 09:15, 24 March 2009 (UTC)