Sources have shared more details about the discovery of billionaire financier Thomas H. Lee’s suicide, according to a report.
Police sources told The New York Post he was discovered in the bathroom of his office with a single gunshot wound to his head and a Smith & Wesson revolver beside him after 11 a.m. Thursday.
The 78-year-old was found on the floor by a female assistant, as the Post reported.
His office is located at the Fifth Avenue headquarters of his financial firm.
Sources explained the assistant was on the hunt for Lee after no one heard from him, per the Post.
According to the sources, efforts to save his life at the scene were unsuccessful and Lee was pronounced dead at 11:26 a.m.
The revolver was reportedly registered and licensed to Lee.
A source who knew Lee told the Post he “was regarded as having one of the most admired houses in the Hamptons — Bill and Hillary Clinton were frequent guests, they would regularly stay there.”
In a statement issued Thursday, family friend and spokesman Michael Sitrick said Lee’s family was “extremely saddened” by his death.
“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,” Sitrick said.
By 2022, Lee was reportedly worth $2 billion.
Bloomberg pointed out Lee’s most famous transaction was raking in a 334% return on equity from his decision to buy Snapple Beverage Corp in 1992.
The outlet mentioned Lee’s use of $150,000 from an inheritance and a loan his brother gave him to launch Thomas H. Lee Partners in 1974.
He ran Thomas H. Lee Partners until 2006.
