Schloter, 49, committed suicide on July 23rd at his home in the canton of Fribourg.

Several sources confirmed the existence of a suicide letter, which explains that his desperation was for private reasons unconnected to Swisscom, Switzerland’s largest telecom company, Tages Anzeiger reported.

A colleague had said that the German national was suffering from burnout at the company, which he joined in 2000 before taking over as CEO six years later.

But the suicide note indicates that Schloter was distressed over the separation in 2009 of his wife, with whom he had three children.

The separation came after the executive fell in love with a younger woman working at Swisscom.

In a TV interview he described the separation as “his greatest defeat, a failure in real life,” Tages Anzeiger said.

“I have three small children and I live separately, see the children every two weeks,” he said on March 26th 2012.

“That gives me time and again guilt,” he said.

“I have the feeling that I have done something that is not right.”

When asked about the failure of his marriage he said he was in part a case of “egoism”.

Carsten left behind many admirers, with Swisscom paying tribute to his contribution to the company in a eulogy posted on its website.

"Thank you for everything, Carsten," the message signed by Swisscom chairman Hansueli Loosli says, adding that the company has lost "a wonderful person and an extraordinary CEO".