The Tennessee Star learned on Sunday night that Nashville real estate developer Bill Freeman is dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
State Representative Bob Freeman (D-Nashville), the son of Bill Freeman, confirmed his father’s passing to Fox 17.
The Nashville Scene, which was owned by Freeman, confirmed the 73-year-old committed suicide on Sunday night. Metro Nashville Police Department told The Star that Freeman’s death is being investigated as a suicide on Monday.
Freeman, who became the sole owner of The Scene and The Nashville Post in 2018, began his career in real estate in 1965, and in 1979 founded the Freeman Webb Company with his late business partner, Jimmy Webb, according to The Scene.
The outlet reported Freeman stepped down from his position at the company in October 2023, when he was succeeded by his son. His son submitted “Right to Die” legislation earlier this year that would have allowed Tennesseans to request medically assisted suicide.
Freeman also stepped down from his board position at the Nashville Airport Authority in March, when The Tennessean reported he was “excited at the prospect of traveling more and enjoying our grandchildren as they grow.”
A White House biography for Freeman reveals the real estate developer was the largest Tennessee-based owner of apartments and offices, with his company owning more than 17,000 individual units. Freeman also served on the boards of multiple charities, including the Nashville Davidson County Mental Health and Veterans Assistance Foundation, and served on the University of Tennessee President’s Council.
Freeman was appointed to the J. William Fullbright Foreign Scholarship Board by President Joe Biden in 2022, according to the biography, which notes he was previously appointed to the Kennedy Center Advisory Committee on the Arts by former President Barack Obama. He was also once the treasurer for the Tennessee Democratic Party.
During his 2015 run to become Nashville’s mayor, Ballotpedia reveals Freeman promised to improve safety by “working with law enforcement, community organizations and other not-for-profit organizations,” and promised to create an “annual report card” for various Nashville agencies to chart their progress on recruiting new employees based on “diversity and inclusivity.”
He is survived by his wife, Babs Tinsley Freeman, his sons Bob, Harvey and Mike, and seven grandchildren.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Agreed. I want to know how and why he committed suicide. Don’t tell me Trump winning and the down ticket Dem losses didn’t have anything to do with it. Blowing millions on his podunk Citizen Kane shtick.
If he was giving out tens of millions of dollars in political donations, in-kind contributions through his publications, etc. during a time of great crisis in commercial real estate, one could easily imagine a scenario where such a strident ideologue would pierce a corporate veil and his leverage or coverage ratios could teeter near breach. At quarter end, the cross defaults come.
Nationally, Dem megadonors are calling for blood over the profligate spending of the DNC burning through $100M a week from August to November to lose. You can’t tell me him killing himself a week and a half after the election has no correlation for someone whose entire life was politics and arguably influence peddling.
An amoral political party mourns the loss of a well worn checkbook.
Condolences for the family members.
Freeman’s empire crumbled long ago but no one seemed to have gotten the memo until today. The Star was kind not to publish the political darkness that was entwined with Freeman’s blunders, Having too many irons in owning Middle Tennessee media to suppress the facts and promote fabrication is irony, (no pun intended).
For now the media can paint a pretty picture of the Freeman fame and fortune and forget about being deaf and blind to the big red flag.