French businessman dies in Tel Aviv suicide

A prominent French-Israeli businessman died on Thursday after reportedly jumping from the 23rd floor of a luxury high-rise in Tel Aviv.

Thierry Leyne, 49, was the former business partner of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

In October 2013, the two founded Leyne Strauss-Kahn & Partners, a financial holding company that specializes in investment banking advice and services. Leyne had served as CEO.

Leyne and Strauss-Kahn had been planning to launch a $2-billion hedge fund and had been in China earlier this year in an attempt to raise capital for the project, according to a Haaretz report.

Leyne apparently jumped out of one of the Yoo towers, a high-end apartment complex in North Tel Aviv.

A note penned by the French-Israeli businessman was found detailing depression and health problems, and police do not suspect that foul play was involved.

Leyne graduated with a degree in engineering from Haifa’s prestigious Technion — Israel Institute of Technology, and went on to establish a career in private banking, investment and management.

He was buried on Friday in a private ceremony.

Strauss-Kahn, a Jewish socialist politician who was once seen as a major contender for the French presidency, resigned from his IMF post in 2011 after allegations that he sexually assaulted a maid in New York.

Prosecutors later dropped all charges against Strauss-Kahn after it was determined that there was no conclusive evidence to bring the case to trial.