Jake Millar, a 26-year-old New Zealander and globe-trotting entrepreneur, has committed suicide in Nairobi, according to several accounts.
According to witnesses, he was discovered dead on the balcony of his home in Nairobi's Karen neighborhood.
“The body was found hanging on a rope at his balcony. He was alone in his cottage,” Citizen Digital quoted an official.
Augustine Nthumbi, the Nairobi County Police Commander, said an investigation was ongoing, confirming that police had received reports of a young man's body at his home.
He said the cause of death was yet to be established
“We were informed of a body of the young man at his house and we are now pursuing the matter. We were told it was suicide but investigators are on it,” he said.
Millar rose to fame in New Zealand when he co-founded Oopher with his friend Yuuki Ogino while they were both students at Christchurch Boys' High School.
In 2015, Careers New Zealand bought the motivation app for an unknown six-figure sum, and the duo went on to found Unfiltered.
Rod Millar, Millar's father, died in a skydiving plane disaster at Fox Glacier in New Zealand's South Island in 2010. It was the country's deadliest jet disaster in 17 years at the time, with nine people killed.
His father was a co-owner and tandem master for the business.
While initial reports stated the disaster was caused by the plane being extremely out of balance and taking off too soon, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) eventually found that this was not the case.
Millar was also a philanthropist, according to reports. He served as an Ambassador for Lifeline in 2018, raising approximately Ksh. 22 million for suicide prevention.
Former New Zealand politician and Reserve Bank Governor Don Brash, among others, has paid tribute to Millar, recalling how the Millar showed initiative at an early age, rallying a group of high-profile New Zealanders to give talks at Christchurch Boys' High School.
The school was affected by a 6.2 magnitude tremor in 2012.
