James S. McDonald, 56, head of investment-management firm Rockefeller & Co. and a board member of NYSE Euronext, died on Sunday in Massachusetts and it appears he took his own life, according to the Wall Street Journal. In a statement, Barclay McFadden III, who identified himself as a family friend, said McDonald “took his own life.” The family has “no further comments beyond this,” the statement added. “Jim McDonald was an exceptional individual who provided strong leadership of Rockefeller & Co. for over eight years,” Colin Campbell, Rockefeller & Co. chairman, said. “He will be missed by all of us privileged to have known and worked with him.” McDonald was CEO of Rockefeller & Co. since 2001. Richard Adamonis, a spokesman for NYSE Euronext, where McDonald has been a director since 2003, said: “The NYSE Euronext community mourns the loss and offers our deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Jim McDonald, an outstanding and accomplished individual who served our capital markets and NYSE Euronext with great commitment and integrity.” In May, McDonald was one of three directors on the board of beleaguered lender CIT Group to retire from the board, citing “increased demands related to CIT becoming a bank-holding company…and time constraints related to each of their other professional commitments,” according to CIT’s proxy statement. Rockefeller & Co.’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer, Austin Shapard, has assumed day-to-day leadership of the investment firm.
Rockefeller’s McDonald Commits Suicide
In a statement, Barclay McFadden III, who identified himself as a family friend, said McDonald “took his own life.”