Details have emerged revealing the last message that young billionaire Jake Millar sent days before he took his life on Sunday, November 28.
In an email sent to his friend, Sir Ray Avery, Millar was battling his demons following negative coverage from New Zealand media, which consequently pushed him to end his life.
"Thank you for taking care of me when I was actively trying to die because of the media tsunami in New Zealand," the email addressed to Avery and his wife read.
"The New Zealand media can be so nasty and being away from NZ, I'm starting to feel more optimistic about the future. Love to you both," Millar wrote.
A run through his social media account revealed that the young billionaire was driven out of his country by the media and that ending his life was his last resolve.
"Left alone with just the 'trial by media 'comments recirculating in his head Jake took the final step to make the pain go away," Avery lamented in his post.
Millar had moved to Kenya at the beginning of the year to escape intense media scrutiny after he lost his company Unfiltered valued at Kshs1.3 billion, to another company that bought it at Kshs11.2 million.
The ambitious entrepreneur founded the company which showcased motivational videos from influential people, while still a teenager attending Christchurch Boys’ High School. He sold the company to the country's Ministry of Education.
The move led him to online persecution by investors, the media as well as technology experts who termed his platform as a 'technical nuance' that was doomed to fail.
Millar had earlier explained that he was coming into the country to experience new things and had no plans of travelling back to his home country.
Confirming Jake Millar's death, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade noted that it was providing consular assistance to his family.
“The ministry is aware of the tragic death of Jake Millar and is providing consular assistance to his family," read a statement from the Ministry.
