J. Michael Cline, a founding investor and former chairman of online ticketing service Fandango, died Tuesday after falling from the window of a high-rise hotel in midtown Manhattan.
The New York Post had the news first. The NYPD confirmed to Deadline that a man of that name and age, 64, fell from the Kimberly Hotel at 145 East 50th. Reports said he died by suicide and left a note.
Cline was a managing partner at Accretive, which funds start-up companies, and the executive chairman of Juxtapose, which has a similar mission but specializes in building consumer-focused companies, according to social media and company websites.
Before he launched Accretive, Cline was a founding investor in Fandango in 2000 as a partner at General Atlantic. Early employees of the ticketing service whom Deadline spoke with today called him absolutely key in getting the new company off the ground. Notably, he negotiated deals with movie theaters chains including Regal and Cinemark, none of which used online listings yet, to join the site. He wanted Fandango to compete with the 800-pound gorilla at the time, Moviefone, the ubiquitous telephone call-in listings service founded in 1989.
A former colleague said Cline was “creative, and made sure the exhibitors had enough of an opportunity so it made sense for them.” He called Cline generous and philanthropic, donating significant sums to environmental causes like the World Wildlife Fund.
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Other companies he founded include R1 RCM, Accolade, Insureon, Everspring and Accumen.
Cline and others cashed out of Fandango in 2007, selling a majority stake to NBCUniversal, which owns it still. Warner Bros Discovery is a minority investor.
If you or anyone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
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