Fandango Founder leaps to his death from NYC hotel

Fandango founder J. Michael Cline ID’d as jumper who leaped to his death from luxury NYC hotel: cops



The jumper who leaped to his death from a luxury hotel in Midtown this week is believed to be the wealthy co-founder of the pandemic-plagued movie ticket firm Fandango, sources and cops said Wednesday.

J. Michael Cline — a 64-year-old “serial entrepreneur” and father of six with a home in Greenwich, Connecticut — plunged from the 20th floor of The Kimberly Hotel and landed in a third-floor courtyard Tuesday morning, according to law enforcement sources.

Cline, who was also a managing partner at the startup-funding firm Accretive, left an apparent suicide note before jumping from the building on East 50th Street near Lexington Avenue, the sources added.

The contents of the note were not immediately known Wednesday.

Cline owned multi-million dollar houses in the Hamptons and Palm Beach, Fla, including a sprawling lakefront abode he bought with his wife for $20.75 million in December 2020, according to the Palm Beach Daily News.

In recent years, Fandango struggled in part due to movie theater attendance dwindling during the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm reportedly tried to pivot to streaming, but reported a net loss in profits last year.

Cline graduated from Cornell University and got an MBA from Harvard University and was described in a recent Fordham University article as a “serial entrepreneur” who inspired students to dream big and “work with people you trust.”

He was also the executive chairman of Juxtapose, which specializes in funding start-ups that build consumer-focused firms, according to an online resume.

Cline founded the tech solutions firm R1 RCM, along with the small business insurance firm Insureon, and the education solutions company Everspring, according to Harvard’s alumni website.

He married his wife, Pamela, in 1995, according to a New York Times wedding announcement.

Pamela Cline and Harvard University didn’t return calls from The Post Wednesday.
https://nypost.com/2024/07/17/us-new...under-sources/