The 34-year-old CEO of HQ Trivia and former co-founder of Vine was found dead of an apparent drug overdose in his luxury Manhattan apartment Sunday, police sources told The Post.
Colin Kroll’s body was discovered when his girlfriend called cops because she’d been unable to get a hold of him, according to sources. She and cops went to Kroll’s Nolita pad on Spring Street, where his body was discovered face-down in his bedroom just after midnight, police said.
Marijuana and heroin were found near his body, and an envelope containing white powder was also recovered in the apartment, sources said.
Kroll was declared dead at the scene.
The tech whiz’s father, Alan Kroll, said his son had recently been thinking about moving out of the city.
“He worked too many hours and too hard,” the dad told the New York Times. “I think New York City got to him a little bit.
“You need to have great constraint to have a disciplined life there. All of that leads to getting too much drugs or bad drugs and overdosing,” the dad said.
He said his son had recently stopped drinking, and he was not aware of him having a drug problem — though he knew he dabbled in drugs recreationally.
The dad added that his son — who was from the Detroit area and had a “hard Midwest drive about him” — planned to visit him in Michigan next week for Christmas.
“He had so much talent and had accomplished so much at such a young age. It truly is a waste,” Alan Kroll said. “At 34, imagine the things he’d done and the skills he had. It would have been really fun to watch him at 50.”
Kroll’s passing also was mourned online by friends and colleagues.
“So sad to hear about the passing of my friend and co-founder Colin Kroll,” HQ Trivia co-founder Rus Yusupov tweeted. “My thoughts & prayers go out to his loved ones. I will forever remember him for his kind soul and big heart. He made the world and internet a better place. Rest in peace, brother.”
HQ Trivia Marketing Director Andrew Watts added in a tweet, “What the f–k. I’m heartbroken. What.”
A neighbor who declined to give his name said Kroll recently told him he was mulling a move from the trendy building, saying the entrepreneur explained that “the rent was a little expensive for him.”
Street Easy shows that the tech exec’s two-bedroom pad went for $7,450 a month in 2016.
The neighbor added that Kroll could be seen walking his beloved bulldog at least four times a day.
“It’s a terrible thing,” the neighbor said of Kroll’s death.
Kroll was named CEO of HQ Trivia in September, following a stint at Twitter that ended amidst allegations of untoward behavior with female coworkers.
HQ Trivia — which lets users across the globe sign on and compete for cash in live trivia shows — launched in late 2017 and was valued at $100 million this past March.
But usership has steadily dropped off. While HQ Trivia once graced the top-10 lists of most-downloaded free iPhone apps, it now swings somewhere between No. 250 and No. 500.
Before working for Twitter, Kroll co-founded the now-defunct app Vine, which was sold to Twitter for $30 million in 2012 and allowed users to share 6-second video loops.
Additional reporting by Sarah Trefethen