Marco Troper, son of former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, died from an accidental overdose

The cause of death for the 19-year-old son of former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has been revealed. He died of an accidental overdose, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.

Marco Troper was found dead around 4 p.m. in his dorm room at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), on Feb. 13, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office said. Esther Wojcicki, an American journalist and educator, further confirmed her grandson's death in a Facebook post shared in February saying, "Tragedy hit my family yesterday My beloved grandson Marco Troper, age 19 passed away yesterday. Our family is devastated beyond comprehension."

Troper's autopsy found high concentrations of cocaine, amphetamine, alprazolam (Xanax), a medication prescribed to manage panic and anxiety disorders, and hydroxyzine, an antihistamine used to treat allergies and anxiety, in his system, according to the Alameda County Sheriff's Office's Coroner Bureau's investigator's report.

The levels of alprazolam and cocaine in Troper's blood were high enough to cause death, according to the coroner's report. Low levels of delta-9, a more abundant form of THC, were found in the college student's blood, the report shows.

Troper suffered from "chronic substance abuse" and he had a fractured right wrist from a scooter incident that occurred two weeks before his death, the report says.

Marco Troper's death ruled 'accidental'

Troper's official cause of death was ruled "acute combined drug toxicity," according to the report, which also declared the overdose as "accidental."

Authorities found illegal and prescription drugs, including Percocet and Oxycodone" in "abundance" at the scene of the incident, the report says. No evidence of physical trauma was observed, the report continued.

Brandi Foscalina, with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau, told USA TODAY that the investigation into Troper's death is "considered closed."

'Macro's life was cut too short'

In Esther Wojcicki's Facebook post, she described her grandson as the "most kind, loving, smart, fun and beautiful human being."

"Marco's life was cut too short," Wojcicki wrote in the Facebook post. "And we are all devastated, thinking about all the opportunities and life experiences that he will miss and we will miss together. Marco, we all love you and miss you more than you will ever know."

Before Troper's death, Wojcicki said he was beginning his second semester as a freshman at UC Berkeley and majoring in math. She also called Troper's fraternity Zeta Psi and dormmates at Stern Hall on the college's campus his "strong community."

"At home, he would tell us endless stories of his life and friends at Berkeley," Wojcicki wrote in her Facebook post.

Who is former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki?

Troper is the son of Susan Wojcicki, who served as CEO of YouTube from 2014 to 2023.

Susan Wojcicki has over 20 years in the tech industry dating back to when she became involved in the creation of Google in 1998 by renting out her garage as an office to the company's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, according to The Guardian. She would go on to become Google's first marketing manager in 1999 and later became the head of the company's online advertising business and original video service, the outlet said.

"Twenty-five years ago I made the decision to join a couple of Stanford graduate students who were building a new search engine," Susan Wojcicki wrote in a blog post on Feb. 16, 2023, announcing her resignation. "Their names were Larry and Sergey. I saw the potential of what they were building, which was incredibly exciting, and although the company had only a few users and no revenue, I decided to join the team."

Wojcicki's blog post continued to say how after 25 years, she plans to step back from her role at YouTube and "start a new chapter" focused on her "family, health, and personal projects (she is) passionate about."

"I always dreamed of working for a company with a mission that could change the world for the better," Wojcicki wrote in the blog post. "Thanks to (Page's and Brin's) vision, I got the chance to live that dream. It has been an absolute privilege to be a part of it, and I’m excited for what’s next."

Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund