J. Michael Cline suicide: Serial entrepreneur and Fandango co-founder jumps to his death from 20th floor of NYC’s luxury Kimberly Hotel after leaving suicide note.
The individual who leapt to his death from a luxury NYC hotel earlier this week has been identified as a well to do co-founder of movie ticket firm, Fandango which had floundered in the wake of COVID and never really recovered.
J. Michael Cline — a 64-year-old ‘serial entrepreneur’ and father of six with a home in Greenwich, Connecticut — plunged from the 20th floor of The Kimberly Hotel and landed in a third-floor courtyard Tuesday morning to police sources.
The boutique suite hotel is home to 154 spacious luxury suites, most equipped with their own private balconies, according to its website.
Serial entrepreneur who lived lavish life
Cline, who was also a managing partner at the startup-funding firm Accretive, left an apparent suicide note before jumping from the building on East 50th Street near Lexington Avenue, according to the source, the nypost reports.
The contents of the suicide note were to date not publicly divulged.
Cline owned multi-million dollar houses in the Hamptons and Palm Beach, Fla, including a sprawling lakefront residence he bought with his wife for $20.75 million in December 2020, according to the Palm Beach Daily News.
The couple married in 1995 according to a nytimes wedding announcement which typically touts the marriages of NYC’s privileged.
In recent years, Fandango struggled in part due to movie theater attendance dwindling during the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm reportedly tried to pivot to streaming, but reported a net loss in profits last year.
Serial entrepreneur that hit a snag?
Cline graduated from Cornell University and got an MBA from Harvard University and was described in a recent Fordham University article as a ‘serial entrepreneur’ who inspired students to dream big and ‘work with people you trust.’
He was also the executive chairman of Juxtapose, which specializes in funding start-ups that build consumer-focused firms, according to an online resume.
Cline founded the tech solutions firm R1 RCM, along with the small business insurance firm Insureon, and the education solutions company Everspring, according to Harvard’s alumni website.
To date Cline’s wife, Pamela Cline has not publicly addressed her husband’s suicide and what may have led up to the start up entrepreneur taking his own life, whether struggling with mental health issues, relationship issues or impending financial doom or debts.
