On Friday, Ed Gilligan, President of financial services company American Express, died on a corporate plane which was heading towards New York. Gilligan was returning from a business trip. According to reports, the 55-year- old American Express President suddenly fell ill in the plane.

Spokeswoman of American Express confirmed the death of Gilligan. The spokeswoman said that the pilot also made emergency of the plane. After the death of Gilligan, CEO of the American Express, which is headquartered in Manhattan's Three World Financial Center in New York City, wrote a letter to the company's employees. The letter has been published in Business Wire.

In the letter, the CEO said that company president's death was extremely painful and surprising for every person in the company and other who had the great fortune to work with Gilligan. The letter stated that Gilligan loved American Express. He devoted his entire career to the company where he started his career as an intern more than three decades ago, Chenault added. He also said Gilligan was a living embodiment of American Express's values.

According to Chenault, Gilligan was a true leader. He made his way to the top as Vice Chairman in 2007 and President in 2013, Chenault wrote in the letter. "Gilligan had contributions that left an indelible imprint" on practically every area of the American Express business "from Commercial Card and Travel to International, Consumer, Small Business, Merchant Services, Network Services", Chenault added.

Earlier this year, American Express faced some problems when company lost its exclusive connection with Costco and also lost a United States antitrust suit. In the first quarter of the year, a stronger United States dollar affected the company's revenue with its shares down 14% this year.