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Ex-YouTube CEO’s son found dead at U.C. Berkeley

Marco Troper. (Photo via Facebook)
Marco Troper. (Photo via Facebook)

The son of YouTube’s former chief executive Susan Wojcicki died last week at a residential housing unit at the University of California at Berkeley, officials confirmed this week.

Firefighters and medical workers were dispatched to the Clark Kerr Campus at U.C. Berkeley on Tuesday, February 13 after receiving reports of an unresponsive male.

When they arrived on the scene, they located Marco Troper, 19, who was pronounced dead by emergency personnel.

There were no signs of foul play, according to a law enforcement source who spoke with The Desk. Police are treating the case as a suspected drug overdose, the source said, though a full toxicology report will not be available for several weeks.

Troper’s death was first confirmed last week by his grandmother, Esther Wojcicki, who said the young man would often come home with “endless stories of his life and friends at Berkeley.”

“Marco’s life was cut too short,” Esther Wojcicki wrote in a social media post. “And we are all devastated, thinking about all the opportunities and life experiences that he will miss and we will miss together.”

Troper was the son of former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, who resigned from the role last year after a lengthy career at Google. She remained at Google’s parent company Alphabet in an advisory role while helping Neal Mohan transition into the CEO role at YouTube, The Desk reported last February.

Troper was a math major at U.C. Berkeley.

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys is a nationally-recognized, award-winning journalist who has covered the business of media, technology, radio and television for more than 10 years. He is the publisher of The Desk and contributes to Know Techie, Digital Content Next and StreamTV Insider. He previously worked for Thomson Reuters, the Walt Disney Company, McNaughton Newspapers and Tribune Broadcasting.
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