Tycoon, 64, leaves note then jumps to his death from luxury Manhattan hotel after his movie-ticketing business was ravaged by COVID
J. Michael Cline, the 64-year-old co-founder of movie-ticketing firm Fandango, leaped from The Kimberly Hotel, landing in a courtyard on the third floor, on Tuesday morning.
Cline's business had struggled during the pandemic which saw movie theaters shutter or forced to follow restrictions on the number of audience numbers allowed for almost two years.
Cline, who was a 'serial entrepreneur' and managing partner at the startup-funding firm Accretive, is said to have left a note before taking his life.
The contents of the note were not made public as of Wednesday.
Cline's wealth saw him owning several multi-million dollar homes in the Hamptons on New York's Long Island, Greenwich, Connecticut and Palm Beach, Florida.
One of the homes include a $20.75 million lakefront mansion that he purchased during the pandemic in December 2020, reports the Palm Beach Daily News.
In recent years, Fandango had struggled after movie theater attendance was essentially non-existent during the pandemic.
The firm attempted to pivot to streaming but reported a loss in profits in 2023.