Rachel Hollis, the New York Times bestselling author and CEO of the multimedia Hollis Company, has shared her “devastation” over the sudden death of her ex-husband, former Disney executive Dave Hollis.
The company’s former distribution chief died on Saturday night (11 February) at his home in Austin, Texas, at the age of 47.
No exact cause has been determined at this time, but Dave’s representatives said he was recently in hospital for a heart-related issue.
“We are devastated,” Rachel wrote on Instagram. “I have no words and my heart is too broken to find them.”
She added: “Please wrap the kids up in prayers as we try and navigate through the unthinkable.”
Dave is survived by his four children with Rachel – his sons Jackson, Sawyer and Ford, and daughter Noah. One of Dave’s last Instagram posts was one of his daughter fishing, on which he wrote: “Today was a good day.”
He was married to blogger and author Rachel, who wrote self-help book Girl, Wash Your Face, from 2004 to 2020.
The pair announced they were separating in an emotional post shared in June 2020, telling followers on Rachel’s Instagram page: “We started out as best friends 18 years ago and the truth is, that core friendship and the parts of us that work so well, have become a band-aid for the parts of us that don’t.”
Dave played a key role in the relaunch of the Star Wars franchise, as well as the Avengers series, Frozen and Ryan Coogler’s blockbuster superhero film Black Panther.
During Dave’s time as distribution chief, a post he left in 2018, Disney experienced massive box office growth, becoming the first studio to cross the $7bn mark in global ticket sales in a given year.
