Ivar Kreuger, 52, matchmaker and moneylender to many nations, arrived in Paris last week. His pallid face was whiter than usual, and drawn. He had just been in the U. S., seeking loans for his labyrinth of companies. He had failed to get the loans. He did not look forward to a meeting he had called for Saturday noon to discuss his companies' financial position with their leading executives and certain international bankers. When on Friday his doctor told him he was in poor shape and should watch his heart he became very depressed. Saturday morning he arose, dressed, wrote three letters. Then, while his associates and bankers were growing impatient at his tardiness, he went to his bedroom, undid his waistcoat, lay down on the bed, put a bullet through his heart (see p. 15).
News of Ivar Kreuger's death was withheld by the Paris police until after the stockmarkets of the world had closed for the weekend. When it reached Sweden it caused something akin to panic. In London a "high Swedish authority" received a representative of the Times with a sad face. "Poor Kreuger," he said. "Creditors were closing in on him. . . ."