Authorities have determined that former Disney executive, Dave Hollis, died of an accidental drug overdose earlier this year. Hollis died at his home outside of Austin, Texas on February 12.
The motivational author and father of four was found unresponsive by authorities when they arrived at his home in Hays County. He was pronounced dead shortly after, which was ruled an accident. According to the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office, Hollis had lethal amounts of cocaine, fentanyl, and alcohol in his system when he died.
According to the Medical Examiner, Hollis had a history of drug and alcohol abuse alongside high blood pressure and depression. It is also reported that the former executive had hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. According to the National Institute of Health:
Atherosclerosis is a common condition that develops when a sticky substance called plaque builds up inside your . Disease linked to atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death in the United States. About half of Americans between ages 45 and 84 have atherosclerosis and don’t know it.
Atherosclerosis develops slowly as cholesterol, fat, blood cells and other substances in your blood form plaque. When the plaque builds up, it causes your arteries to narrow. This reduces the supply of oxygen-rich blood to tissues of vital organs in the body.
After Dave Hollis’ death, his ex-wife Rachel Hollis posted on social media that the family was devastated by his passing. She said, “I have no words and my heart is too broken to find them. Please wrap the kids up in prayers as we try to navigate through the unthinkable.”
The former Disney executive told the Christian Post 2020 was the “hardest year” of his life, “outpacing any other year by a factor of 100” due to his divorce with Rachel Hollis. However, in 2021 he claimed he was the “strongest” he had ever been “mentally, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually.”
“There is, for every single one of us, a very intentional purpose that our Creator has placed us on this planet for, and our work in this life we have is to do everything we can, every single day, to honor the intention of that Creator,” he said.
He continued, “But doing that work, finding a way to step closer to our purpose or honor that intention, is something that requires courage, because it often requires leaving what we’ve known for what we need; transitioning from who we were to who we’re becoming. That can be uncomfortable both for us and can make the people who have become accustomed to who we’ve been uncomfortable as we grow into who we were meant to be.”
NBC reported on Dave Hollis’ career and role at Disney:
Dave Hollis worked for Disney for 17 years and had been head of distribution for the company for seven years when he left in 2018 to join his wife’s venture. The parents of four moved from Los Angeles to the Austin area, collaborated on livestreams, podcasts and organized life-affirming conferences. In their podcast, “Rise Together,” they focused on marriage.
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