Businessman, financier, and investor Thomas H. Lee was found dead of a self-influcted gunshot wound in his Manhattan office early Thursday morning, police say.
Lee, 78, was credited with being one of the early pioneers in private equity and specifically leveraged buyouts.
Police were called to the headquarters of Thomas H. Lee Capital LLC on the sixth floor of 767 Fifth Avenue around 11:10 a.m. this morning after an “emergency” was reported. EMTs pronounced Lee dead at the scene.
Lee family friend and spokesperson Michael Sitrick issued a statement, confirming his death.
“The family is extremely saddened by Tom’s death,” he said. “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. Our hearts are broken. We ask that our privacy be respected and that we be allowed to grieve.”
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the official cause of death.
