Two top ranking American bankers working in senior positions in London have committed suicide in the space of two days.
Gabriel Magee, a 39-year-old JP Morgan bank executive, died early this morning after he jumped 500ft from the top of the bank’s European headquarters. His body was discovered on the ninth floor roof, which surrounds the 33-story Canary Wharf skyscraper.
Just two days earlier, on Sunday, fellow American banker, William ‘Bill’ Broeksmit, 58, was found hanging in his South Kensington home.
Broeksmit – who retired last February – was a former senior manager at Deutsche Bank and had lived in London many years. He started working for the bank in 1996 but left for a period of 7 years before returning in 2008.
Tragedy: IT executive Gabriel Magee has been found dead today after jumping from the top of JP Morgan’s headquarters in Canary Wharf, London, and landing on a surrounding roof
Magee was a vice president in the corporate and investment bank technology department having joined JP Morgan in 2004 and moved with the bank from the U.S. to Britain in 2007.
Magee was named in an email sent to all JP Morgan staff Tuesday afternoon.
A company spokesman said: ‘We are deeply saddened to have lost a member of the J.P. Morgan family at 25 Bank Street today. Our thoughts and sympathy are with his family and his friends’.
A source close to Magee said he was in ‘good standing with his bosses and colleagues. He was well liked.’
Scotland Yard said they were called to 25 Bank Street at 8.02 a.m. and detectives are not treating the death as suspicious.
‘No arrests have been made and the incident is being treated as non-suspicious at this early stage’, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said.
Canary Wharf workers were in shock today, with one trader telling MailOnline that his body lay on the flat roof until around midday.
‘My colleague yelled that he could see that someone had jumped from the top of the building onto a lower roof. His body lay there uncovered for at least two hours,’ he said.
In shock: A JP Morgan worker looks out of his window as Mr Magee’s body was recovered today
Roof death: Workers at Canary Wharf said hundreds were looking at the man’s body from their windows
Investigation: Police at the scene outside the JP Morgan building this morning, where the man was found dead at around 8am
‘Hundreds were looking out of their windows at him.
‘It was bonus week at JP Morgan last week so I hope it wasn’t to do with that’.
Another Canary Wharf worker who could see where the man fell told the Evening Standard: ‘It’s upsetting what’s happened but the thought of somebody lying up there for four hours is awful.
‘I got into the office at about 8.10 and the body was on the floor and there were police up there, and they put a white cover on him.
‘I think he was in a suit. As far as I could see the was dressed appropriately, but there was quite a lot of blood, so me and my colleagues were a bit upset.’
Others tweeted that what they saw this morning.
Amie Hughes-Gage said: ‘Just watched the police finally remove that poor bankers body 4 and half hours later with only a white sheet over him.’
Hetal Patel tweeted: ‘The 9th floor roof of JP Morgan is visible from my office window. For a long time the body was left cordoned & unattended’.
Another wrote online: ‘It’s not a nice view from my building. The body is on the rooftop of level 9. So sad’.
+12
An air ambulance was sent to the scene but the man could not be saved.
‘We were called to Bank Street to reports of a person fallen form a height’, London Ambulance Service spokesman said:
‘We sent one ambulance crew, a duty officer, our hazardous area response team and London Air Ambulance to the scene.
‘Sadly a man in his 30s was pronounced dead at the scene.’
JP Morgan’s building has been the headquarters of the bank’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operation since July 2012.
It used to be owned by Lehman Brothers until its collapse in 2008, and the area houses the headquarters of other banking giants including HSBC and Barclays.
The horrific tragedy came hot on the heels of the shock death of of Broeksmit Sunday, who apparently had close ties to co-chief executive Anshu Jain.
Jain and fellow co-chief executive Juergen Fitschen said in an internal memo: ‘He was considered by many of his peers to be among the finest minds in the fields of risk and capital management.
‘We are deeply saddened by Bill’s death. He was a dear friend and colleague to many of us who benefitted from his intellect and wisdom.
Location: The body of William ‘Bill’ Broeksmit, 58, was found at his home in South Kensington, central London
Discovery: Police had been called to reports of a man found hanging at a house on this road, Evelyn Gardens
‘Our thoughts and condolences are with his wife and family at this time. We will remember him for his contributions to Deutsche Bank, thoughtful advice and personal friendship.’
Broeksmit worked in investment banking – specifically risk and securities – and lived on exclusive Evelyn Gardens in South Kensington, which has an average property value of £1.9million.
He is also registered to a high-value property a stone’s throw from New York’s Central Park.
Broeksmit’s name appears on U.S. government records for the Broeksmit Family Foundation, which is based in the palatial 1185 Park Avenue building.
The three-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment to which he is linked was worth $4,500,000 when it was last sold in June 2000.
He worked at Deutsche Bank from 1996 to 2001, then from 2008 until he retired. Broeksmit was also employed by Merrill Lynch for a period.
Broeksmit was one of around 100 bankers who left Merrill Lynch for Deutsche when its investment banking arm was founded in the 1990s.
Links: Mr Broeksmit is linked by U.S. documents to an apartment in this building, yards from Central Park
Offices: He worked at Deutsche Bank from 1996 to 2001, then from 2008 until he retired (file picture)
He was involved in the process of rescuing the bank in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, when many investment banks found their debts were ‘toxic’, and unlikely ever to be repaid.
Broeksmit, a renowned risk expert, assisted the bank’s efforts to shift the worst of the debt, and reduce its total amount of lending.
Chiefs at Deutsche Bank had planned to promote Broeksmit to its management board in 2012, but stopped when the German financial regulator expressed doubts about his experience as a leader.
Scotland Yard confirmed only that a 58-year-old man was found hanged.
A spokesman said: ‘Police were called at 12.35 p.m. on Sunday to a man found hanging at Evelyn Gardens, SW7.
‘Kensington and Chelsea police, ambulance and air ambulance all attended. A 58-year-old man was declared dead at the scene. The death is being treated as non-suspicious.’
If you are struggling with any issues and need someone to talk to – if calling from the UK please contact The Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or via email jo@samaritans.org.
US – Call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
How do the “Banking Elite” get rid of whistle blowers?
“Once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence, three times is enemy action” James Bond. Will there be a third?