Colin Kroll, 35-year-old co-founder of Vine and HQ Trivia, has reportedly been found dead
Multiple outlets are reporting this morning that Colin Kroll, whose tech innovations included popular video hosting service Vine and the viral phenomenon trivia game HQ Trivia, has died. Kroll’s body was reportedly found early this morning in his New York apartment by police, after his girlfriend asked them to investigate his whereabouts.
Kroll founded Vine in 2012, working alongside frequent partners Dom Hoffman and Rus Yusupov. The six-second video posting service—whose uses ranged from international journalism to career-launching comedy videos—was quickly snapped up by Twitter, which acquired the company for a reported $30 million. The service went on to be a mainstay of internet content production, logging 200 million subscribers and earning several industry awards, but was ultimately shuttered in 2016.
Although he briefly served as Vine’s general manager, Kroll eventually left Twitter in 2014, a departure that has frequently been characterized as a firing over allegations of inappropriate behavior from female employees. Per a recent piece in Recode, said reputation followed Kroll to HQ Trivia, which, despite its buzz-worthy success, apparently had trouble acquiring investors due in part to worries about Kroll’s behavior.