J. Michael Cline, the visionary entrepreneur who co-founded Fandango and revolutionized movie ticket purchasing, has died at the age of 64 after plunging from the twentieth floor of a luxury hotel. According to TMZ, a suicide note has been found.
The New York Times reports that J. Michael Cline, a prominent figure in the tech and entertainment industry, passed away last week in Manhattan. New York City police confirmed that Cline fell from the twentieth floor of the Kimberly Hotel on Tuesday. The incident, reported via a 911 call, resulted in officers finding Cline “unconscious and unresponsive with injuries indicative of a fall from an elevated position.” TMZ reports that a suicide note has been found.
Cline’s career was marked by significant achievements, most notably the co-founding of Fandango in 2000. The online ticketing company, recognizable by its orange “F” logo shaped like a ticket stub, transformed the way Americans approached movie-going. Cline, who remained with the company until 2011, saw an opportunity in the market and capitalized on it. The company’s name, as Cline explained to Variety, was chosen because “A Fandango is fast and fun,” reflecting the service’s aim to make movie attendance “easier and more enjoyable than ever before.”
Fandango’s business model proved successful, handling ticketing for major theater chains and generating revenue through processing fees for online ticket sales and advertising on its platform. The company’s impact was so significant that it was later acquired by Comcast and is currently under the ownership of NBCUniversal and Warner Bros.
Art Levitt, Fandango’s co-founder and former chief operating officer and president, remembered Cline as a “brilliant, creative and loyal” individual who persevered through challenging times. Levitt also noted Cline’s adventurous spirit, which likely contributed to his success in identifying and pursuing market opportunities.
Beyond Fandango, Cline’s career spanned various ventures in the tech and finance sectors. He ran venture capital firms and was involved in private equity through his firm Accretive. At the time of his death, Cline held the position of executive chairman at Juxtapose, a company that launched numerous tech businesses across diverse fields including healthcare, wellness, and property management.
Born to Rose Marie and James G. Cline in New York, J. Michael Cline’s educational background included a degree from Cornell University and an MB. from Harvard University. His entrepreneurial journey began in the early 1980s with an unsuccessful venture importing hand warmers from Japan, which he humorously described on his LinkedIn profile as a failure where he “had no idea what I was doing. Seriously.”
Despite this early setback, Cline went on to achieve considerable success in business, acquiring multi-million-dollar properties in affluent areas such as Palm Beach, Florida, Greenwich, Connecticut, and the Hamptons. His success extended beyond personal wealth, as he was also known for his philanthropic efforts. Cline served as chairman of the board of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and had a particular interest in big cat and jaguar preservation.
Read more at the New York Times here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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