It’s tough at the top – The last of the tycoons

Img source: Problogger

You may have already read the news about the suicides of several tycoons. The saying goes “The bigger you are, the harder you fall”.  Or the other saying “Birds will die for food and men will die for money”.

It’s pretty unfortunate for these men and their families: Steven Good, Adolf Merckle, Thierry Magon and Karthik Rajaram (at least a millionaire).

They have the wealth that everyone thirsts for, if not for the unprecedented financial crisis, most people will still envy what these men have achieved. The envy ends when these tycoons ended their lives. They have the wealth but lost it when the stock market stumbled.

Being at the top has a huge price to paid for, not only the price of getting there but also the price of falling from the top. It can be tough at the top.

The face of failure is too big for them to handle. I supposed in these cases the main culprits are the egos, face values and primarily the mental states. It requires a tough mind to accept failures and apparently the stress took over.

I have always thought that tycoons, businessmen, CEO, CFO etc…the top people have the ultimate brain prowess to handle humongous stress and criticisms. But the news has just proven me wrong. Mental toughness is not a privilege.

What happens if at that juncture of suicide, the mental states of these tycoons are positive? Instead of “losing fortune means losing everything” to “losing fortune is not a total loss”. I mean family is priceless, life is priceless and the will to withstand the setbacks is priceless.

I am not them so I don’t know what it really means when a billionaire loses his fortune. I may not be able to take it should that happened to me and it’s easier to comment on what have happened than to go through the same crisis.

I cannot point my finger and say they are foolish. When money is larger than life, mishaps always happened. 

The market is where fortunes are made and lost, it’s part of the game and game is part and parcel of life. You buy big when you can afford it, your stakes are high and you will fall harder than anyone else. To look at the positives when you are down is not easy.

I will stand by what I have said “Mental toughness is not a privilege”. Anyone who thinks, including myself, it’s tough getting to the top, think again, it’s even tougher to stay at the top and not come down.