Jake Christopher Clifford Millar (8 August 1995 – 29 November 2021) was a New Zealand entrepreneur and businessman who founded the companies Oompher and Unfiltered. On 29 November 2021, at age 26, Millar died by

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

in Kenya.

Early life

Millar was born in Christchurch, New Zealand and was the son of Robyn Jacobs and the late Rod Miller. He was raised in

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori language, Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast List of regions in New Zealand, region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The populat ...

. Rod Miller died in the 2010 Fox Glacier FU-24 crash. Millar was ambitious about business from a very young age. During his primary school years Millar's Mother Robyn helped him create and sell fridge magnets outside of supermarkets. Also with the influence of his fathers Sky Diving Business growing up, Millar saw that business was something he wanted to get into as he got older. Early in his career, Millar made a notable change to his personal identity. Originally born Jake Miller, he decided to change his surname to ‘Millar’ at the age of 19, when he was just starting his first business. This change was motivated by a desire to avoid confusion with the American rapper of the same name, as this was impacting the visibility of his business and its achievements online. Millar expressed a wish that he had chosen a more distinctive change, reflecting on the decision, “All the stuff we were posting about the business and the publicity we were getting at the time was just getting lost. I spent months trying to work out what to change it to and I wish I changed it to something more fun instead of just changing a letter.”

Career

Millar's professional business career started early during his teenage years when he was attending Christchurch Boys' High School, where he was Head Boy in 2013. There he founded his first company, Oompher, a career advice platform. Still a teenager, he sold Oompher to the New Zealand Government, with the platform being taken up by Careers New Zealand only 10 months after beginning Oompher.

Unfiltered

Millar's next venture was Unfiltered which he founded in 2015, a platform that provides inspirational interviews and advice from high-profile individuals. A notable interview Millar did for Unfiltered was with British business magnate

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...

. Despite the promise of the idea with nearly $5 million raised and a $12+ million valuation at its peak, the business failed as a result of the impact of COVID-19 and Unfiltered was subsequently sold in early 2021 to Crimson Education for a combination of cash and shares.

Personal life and death

Following the sale of his business, pressure from investors and New Zealand media led Millar to leave the country for Kenya. He had previously lived in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and New York City. On 29 November 2021, at age 26, Millar died by

in Karen, Kenya.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Millar, Jake 1995 births 2021 deaths 21st-century New Zealand businesspeople New Zealand expatriates New Zealand expatriates in the United States Businesspeople from Christchurch Suicides by hanging Suicides in Kenya