Bob Lee, the tech exec who founded the mobile payment company Cash App, died Tuesday after getting stabbed near downtown San Francisco. The SF Police Department responded to a stabbing report at roughly 2:35 AM without naming the victim. Later, Lee’s brother and father confirmed Les’s identity to NBC Bay Area.
“The victim was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries,” the authorities said, “Despite efforts by first responders and medical personnel, the victim succumbed to his injuries.” His father, Richard Lee, said, “Bobby worked harder than anyone and was the smartest person I have ever known.”
“He will be missed by all those that knew him,” Richard Lee added. Moreover, his brother Tim Oliver Lee posted on Facebook, “I’m so saddened and disheartened to lose my brother. He really was the best of us.”
How did Silicon Valley respond to the Cash App Founder’s death?
The Cash App founder worked in numerous tech firms, leaving a lasting impact on the tech sector. Consequently, prominent names in the industry shared their condolences.
Bob Lee played essential roles in other companies, such as the financial technology firm MobileCoin. That is why its CEO shared a few words about the deceased chief technology officer.
“Bob was a force of nature,” MobileCoin CEO Joshua Goldbard said. “He helped to birth Android and CashApp into our world,” he added.”
“Moby was his dream: a privacy-protecting wallet for the 21st century. I will miss him every day.” Moreover, Goldbard tweeted Lee was “like a brother to me.”
He praised the tech CEO as a “brilliant” visionary with a “kaleidoscopic” mind. Also, the CEO of the Collaborative interface design tool Figma, Dylan Field, couldn’t believe Lee was gone.
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He told Insider, “We remained connected over the years, and he was an early supporter of Figma.” Field added, “It’s so hard to believe he is gone.”
TechCrunch founder Micheal Arrington said Lee was “one of the best humans I’ve ever met.” He added, “I’m so glad we were able to spend time together recently. RIP.”
The Cash App founder’s friends paid tribute to him on social media. Former MMA fighter Jake Shields remembered Bob Lee as a “loyal friend.” In response, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he was “very sorry” to learn of Lee’s passing.
Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey called Bob Lee’s death “heartbreaking” on the social media app Nostr. He wrote, “Bob was instrumental to Square and Cash App.”
Joshua Bloch, one of Lee’s friends at Google, spoke about him in a phone interview with Insider. Bloch described Lee as a magnetic person who “constantly lived life to the fullest.”
Who is Bob Lee?
Photo Credit: thedailybeast.com
Bob Lee joined Square, the financial tech company founded by Jack Dorsey, in 2010 as its first chief technology officer. There, he became the founder of Cash App, the mobile payment app that rivaled Venmo.
In 2021, he became the chief product officer of MobileCoin, a fintech company that focused on privacy via end-to-end encryption. Also, he was one of the investors in Elon Musk’s SpaceX firm.
Lee invested in other tech companies, like the social audio app Clubhouse. His username was “crazybob” on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Moreover, he provided his “support and expertise” during the pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. “Bob built a large part of the server for the WHO COVID-19 App,” the group added.
Most people recognize Bob Lee as the Cash App founder. The mobile program enabled users to send and receive money almost instantly.
It facilitates paying essential expenses, such as utility bills. Also, Cash App is convenient for more casual purposes like paying a friend who bought you dinner.
Cash App also had additional features such as the Cash Card, which allows users to make offline transactions. As a result, many people used it as an alternative to traditional banks, which usually had longer processing times.
Conclusion
The police found Cash App founder Bob Lee dead after a stabbing incident in San Francisco. At the time of writing, the authorities declined to release further information.
They told NBC News the homicide is an ongoing investigation. Also, they asked correspondents to direct all questions to the city medical examiner.
San Francisco has had 12 homicides since the beginning of 2023. As a result, the fatal stabbing may intensify scrutiny of public safety concerns.