US billionaire financier Thomas Lee found dead at 78

A US billionaire financier who helped pioneer the debt-fuelled corporate acquisition known as a leveraged buyout has been found dead, his family says.

In a statement, Thomas H Lee's family said they were "extremely saddened" by the 78-year-old's death.

The New York Post reports that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his Manhattan office.

NYPD told the BBC an unnamed 78-year-old man had been found dead on Thursday morning at 767 Fifth Avenue.

The address is where the offices of Thomas H Lee Capital LLC are listed.

The police spokesperson did not confirm the man had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, noting the cause of death would be for a medical examiner to determine.

A statement by family friend and spokesman Michael Sitrick said: "While the world knew him as one of the pioneers in the private equity business and a successful businessman, we knew him as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, sibling, friend and philanthropist who always put others' needs before his own."