Youtube viral content creator Grant Thompson, known as “The King of Random” has died on July 31 from a paragliding accident in Utah.
He was 38 years old.
Grant’s brother, Mark, told TMZ that Grant Thompson had gone paragliding on Monday evening but didn’t return.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office wrote on their facebook account, “On July 29, 2019 the St George Emergency Dispatch Center received a report of an overdue paraglider. ”
“As the helicopter approached the area, they were able to locate the pilot’s body.” “Unfortunately the pilot was determined to be deceased,” read the Facebook page.
The County Sheriff’s office said paragliding equipment was recovered along with a video, and are currently reviewing the video to establish what caused the aircraft’s crash.
Thompson was from Hurricane, Utah, and his channel boasted more than 11 and a half million subscribers and almost 2.5 billion views, featuring videos on “life hacks, experiments, and random weekend projects.” He started the channel in 2010 and later became a full time “YouTuber,” permanently leaving his job as an airline pilot.
“We make videos dedicated to exploring life through all kinds of life hacks, experiments, and random weekend projects,” reads Thompson’s channel description. “There is excitement found in discovering the unknown, and living to tell about it, so join us and let’s building something together.”
“It is with great sadness to inform everyone that Grant Thompson passed away last night. Grant had great love and appreciation for his fans. We invite you to share your thoughts for Grant and the channel in the comments,” read a statement on the official “King of Random” Instagram account Tuesday. “Grant’s legacy will live on in the channel and the global community he created.”
YouTube’s official Twitter account offered their condolences, their message read: “We’re deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of Grant Thompson, a gifted, passionate and endlessly curious creator. We send our deepest condolences to his loving family, The King of Random team and fans.”
We’re deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of Grant Thompson, a gifted, passionate and endlessly curious creator. We send our deepest condolences to his loving family, The King of Random team and fans. https://t.co/pUY4q1EWcU pic.twitter.com/oL3VVSXacf
— YouTube (@YouTube) July 30, 2019
A video in Memoriam was created in his channel, which was recently being hosted by other people. His brother told TMZ that he got into paragliding about 5 months ago and was interested in skydiving, flying, and other airborne activities.
In an interview with Mediakix on 2017, Thompson explained his story briefly: “My basic life story is: bullied at school, went off on my own, learned how to do extreme sports, got into flying, became an airline pilot. I worked as an airline pilot for 11 years. Then I got into real estate and bought and sold houses. I had 11 houses that I rented out. I had enough money coming in that we kind of like semi-retired.
“Then I just started tinkering and learning about how the world works, which was inspired kind of by the idea of the Great Recession from the housing collapse. I was learning about things. I started making videos on YouTube showing people what I was tinkering with and what I was coming up with. It turned into a big enough movement that I shut down my real estate business, I quit the airlines, and now it’s all YouTube.”
BREAKING Grant Thompson dead: YouTube ‘King of Random’ creator dies aged 38https://t.co/paKwWdkFDw pic.twitter.com/O1wTs0cUyD
— GWP DIGITAL (@DigitalGwp) July 31, 2019
