J. Michael Cline, 64, founder of Fandango, died in an apparent suicide after falling from a New York City luxury hotel. As we previously reported, authorities found him “unconscious and unresponsive” last Tuesday morning.
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Law enforcement sources for TMZ shared Cline’s alleged final note before his death.
“So sorry. I can’t explain the pain of f— up this much. I love you all,” J. Michael Cline penned in the suicide note. The outlet’s sources also claimed some words were apparently missing from the note.
According to sources, he left the heartbreaking final message in Room 28 of the Kimberly Hotel, located on East 50th Street near Lexington Avenue. Authorities reported that Cline leaped from the 20th floor and landed in a third-floor courtyard on Tuesday morning.
New York City police responded to a call shortly after 10 a.m., July 16th at the Kimberly Hotel, located at 145 East 50th St. in Manhattan. Upon arrival, they discovered Cline with injuries consistent with a fall from a high elevation. He was pronounced dead at 10:30 a.m.
At the time, police said that “no criminality is suspected.”
Sources Allege J. Michael Cline’s Apparent Suicide Followed a Recent Gallbladder Surgery
Sources said his suicide, which occurred just days after gallbladder surgery, left those who knew him stunned and devastated.
Cline, a seasoned entrepreneur, founded Fandango in 2000 and remained with the company until 2011.
He attended Cornell University and Harvard Business School. In 2007, he founded Accolade, a provider of health services for large employers and hospital systems, where he served as chairman and director until 2022. In 2010, he founded Acumen, an outsourcing company for lab operations in large hospitals, and held the positions of chairman and director until 2017.
He also founded Accretive and served as its managing partner, providing funding for start-up companies.
Cline also served as chairman of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. In the 2020 annual report, he expressed his deep passion for the nation’s wildlife. “The importance of protecting conservation gains and sustaining momentum to protect wildlife and natural habitats cannot be overstated,” he wrote at the time.
Cline married his wife, Pamela, in 1995, and together they have six children.
Cline owned multimillion-dollar homes in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Palm Beach, Florida. Among his properties was a lakefront mansion he and his wife, Pamela, purchased for $20.75 million in December 2020.