Ex-YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki's son found dead at UC Berkeley dorm
While cause of death remains unknown, campus police found no signs of foul play
February 18, 2024
Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki's son has died at the age of 19 as he was found unresponsive in his college dormitory at the University of California, Berkeley's Clark Kerr Campus, according to a spokesperson.
Last week, Marco Troper, a freshman at UC Berkeley’s campus, was found unresponsive at his dormitory, Clark Kerr Campus, the spokesperson for the school told People.
The Berkeley student was located at 4:23pm local time and the Berkeley Fire Department alerted campus police that they were "attempting life-saving measures" on Troper, a statement by the University of California Police Department, Berkeley revealed.
He was soon pronounced dead by the fire department.
While the cause of death remains unknown, campus police found no signs of foul play.
However, Trooper’s grandmother, Esther Wojcicki, believes her grandson died of a drug overdose.
"He ingested a drug, and we don’t know what was in it. … One thing we do know, it was a drug," she told SFGate.
Esther also described her grandson as "loving" and a "math genius."
"He was everything you could have wished for in a son and a grandson. He was destined to make a difference," she said. "It’s heartbreaking."
In a Thursday Facebook post, Esther said that she and the rest of Troper’s family are "devastated beyond comprehension."
"He was just getting [started] on his second semester of his freshman year at UC Berkeley majoring in math and was truly loving it," she added.
The author of "How to Raise Successful People" continued, "He had a strong community of friends from his dorm at Stern Hall and his fraternity Zeta Psi and was thriving academically."
Esther said that she and Troper's loved ones "want to prevent this from happening to any other family."
"Tragedy is very hard to sustain," she told the outlet. "It makes you want to hide in a closet and never come out, but I think the main thing is that we need to push forward to see what we can do to help other people so there won’t be any other kids who end up like Marco."
