In memoriam: J. Carter Beese Jr.

J. Carter Beese Jr., a venture capitalist and former commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, committed suicide in Malibu, Calif., on April 8.

Beese, who was 50, was being treated for depression, according to family members.

Beese was a venture partner at Owings Mills, Md.-based Boulder Ventures and chairman of the venture capital firm’s advisory committee at the time of his death.

He previously served as president of Riggs Capital Partners, a $100 million venture fund affiliated with Washington, D.C.-based Riggs National Bank, now part of PNC Financial Services. Beese was also the former vice chairman of the global banking group at Bankers Trust and chairman of Alex. Brown & Sons.

“We here at Boulder Ventures are deeply saddened by his loss,” said Andy Jones, a general partner in the Owings Mills office. “Our thoughts are with his family.”

“Carter was a very up person with a wonderful personality,” Boulder General Partner Larry Nacks told Dow Jones. “He brought really good council to our partnership and our partners.”

Beese had held board positions with Aether Systems, China.com, Equivest Finance, Riggs National and several private companies. He also had an extensive career in government in addition to his business ventures. He was a member of President George H.W. Bush’s Information Technology Advisory Committee and was nominated in 1992 to be an SEC commissioner, a position he held through 1994. During his SEC tenure, Beese was especially interested in cross-border capital flows, the derivatives market and corporate governance, according to Boulder Ventures’ website.

He is survived by his wife of 23 years, the former Natalie Wilson; three sons, John Carter Beese III, Wilson S. Beese and Alex N. Beese; and one daughter, Courtney L. Beese.