The 19-year-old son of former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has been found dead at the University of California, Berkeley, with his family suspecting a drug overdose as the cause.
Marco Troper, a freshman at UC Berkeley, was found unresponsive in the Clark Kerr student complex on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.
The math major’s grandmother, Esther Wojcicki, suggested he might have succumbed to a drug overdose after confirming his death and identity.
Esther told SFGATE: ‘He ingested a drug, and we don’t know what was in it,’ she said. ‘One thing we do know, it was a drug.’
UC Berkeley spokesperson Janet Gilmore said there were no signs of foul play but did not say whether Troper died from a drug overdose.
Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcickic’s (left) 19-year-old son Marco Troper (middle) was found dead at the University of California, Berkeley on Tuesday
Troper’s mother, Susan, stepped down from her leadership position last year and transitioned into an advisory role across both Google and Alphabet
Troper, a freshman at UC Berkeley (pictured), was found unresponsive in the Clark Kerr student complex on Tuesday afternoon
‘Berkeley Fire Department notified UCPD that they were attempting life-saving measures on the victim. UCPD responded, and Berkeley Fire Department pronounced the person deceased,’ Gilmore wrote in a statement.
In a heartbreaking social media post, Esther confirmed the identity of the college student who just started his second semester of his freshman year.
‘Tragedy hit my family yesterday My beloved grandson Marco Troper, age 19 passed away yesterday. Our family is devastated beyond comprehension,’ the grieving grandmother wrote.
‘Marco’s life was cut too short. And we are all devastated, thinking about all the opportunities and life experiences that he will miss, and we will miss together,’ Esther continued.
Troper majored in math and had a strong community of friends from his dorm at Stern Hall and his fraternity Zeta Psi, according to his grandmother.
‘At home, he would tell us endless stories of his life and friends at Berkeley,’ she wrote. ‘
Troper majored in math and had a strong community of friends from his dorm at Stern Hall and his fraternity Zeta Psi, according to his grandmother
The family is awaiting a toxicology report to determine the cause of death, but his grandmother Esther Wojcicki said it appeared to be an accidental drug overdose
The grandmother also described Troper as an ‘all-around athlete’, who enjoyed all kinds of sports including boxing, swimming and tennis.
‘He was everything you could have wished for in a son and a grandson. He was destined to make a difference, it’s heartbreaking.’
The family is awaiting a toxicology report to determine the cause of death, but Esther said it seemed to be an accidental drug overdose.
‘Kids in college, especially freshmen and sophomores, experiment with everything. I think this was an experiment that went wrong,’ she told Palo Alto Daily Post.
Before attending UC Berkeley, Troper graduated from Menlo School in Atherton, where he took a leading role in the school’s hackathon and tutored numerous students.
School head Than Healy described him as an ‘avid mathematician and computer scientist’ in an email.
‘He was incredibly intelligent, curious, and creative — often showing up to class and community events with a bright smile and an infectious energy,’ Healy wrote.
Troper is also survived by four siblings and his father, Dennis Troper.
Susan, former CEO of YouTube and one of Google ‘s oldest employees, stepped down from her leadership position last year to focus on family
Susan (pictured with husband Dennis Troper) served as Google’s inaugural marketing manager in 1999 and assumed the position of CEO of YouTube in 2014
His mother, a former CEO of YouTube and one of Google’s oldest employees, stepped down from her leadership position last year to focus on family.
Susan wrote in a blog post in February of last year: ‘I’ve decided to step back from my role as the head of YouTube and start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects I’m passionate about.’
She served as Google’s inaugural marketing manager in 1999 and assumed the position of CEO of YouTube in 2014. Following her resignation, she transitioned into an advisory role across both Google and Alphabet.
Susan has not made any comments on the death of Troper.
Esther hopes that Troper’s tragedy can help educate people and prevent similar incidents for other families.
“I think the most important thing is that teenagers and college students need to know that drugs today are not the same as the drugs of yesterday, they’re often laced with fentanyl,’ she said.
‘So while they think they know what they are doing if they were to look at the statistics nationwide, they can see that more people die of drug overdoses than from the pandemic.’