The 43-year-old founder of Cash App was stabbed to death in downtown San Francisco early Tuesday morning, spurring an outpouring of grief from other tech founders and stoking debate about crime in the city.
The San Francisco Police Department said in a news release that officers responded to a report of a stabbing at around 2:35 a.m on Tuesday where they found a “43-year-old adult male victim suffering from apparent stab wounds.”
“Officers rendered aid and summoned medics to the scene. The victim was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries,” the release continued. “Despite efforts by first responders and medical personnel, the victim succumbed to his injuries.”
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The stabbing occurred on the 300 block of Main Street, an area studded with other tech offices and million-dollar condos. The victim was Bob Lee, the chief product officer of cryptocurrency company MobileCoin.
“Bob was a dynamo, a force of nature,” MobileCoin CEO Joshua Goldbar said in a statement. “Bob believed in the dignity of privacy. He wanted a world where you and I could transact free from the prying eyes of predatory corporations and criminals. We are grateful for and humbled by all he has done for us.”
Lee’s father, Rick, shared an emotional tribute on Facebook, saying he had lost his “best friend.”
“Bob would give you the shirt off his back,” he wrote. “He would never look down on anyone and adhered to a strict no-judgment philosophy.”
He added: “Bobby worked harder than anyone and was the smartest person I have ever known. He will be missed by all those that knew him.”
His brother, Tim, wrote that he was “saddened and disheartened” by the loss and felt like he had “lost part of [him]self.”
NBC Bay Area reporter Scott McGrew said that friends of Lee reported he’d left San Francisco “for Miami, but came back for a quick visit” before his attack.
Prior to working at MobileCoin, Lee worked at Google for several years—where he helped develop Android—before moving to Square. The company, which later changed its name to Block, is where Lee created the Cash App.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who also set up Block, confirmed news of Lee’s death on the Nostr social network. “It’s real,” Dorsey wrote in reply to a post identifying Lee. “Getting calls. Heartbreaking. Bob was instrumental to Square and Cash App.”
During the pandemic, Lee also worked to curtail the spread of the disease, developing a home testing app, advocating for vaccines, and volunteering with the World Health Organization.
As of mid-morning local time, the police had released few details about the incident, including whether Lee knew the assailant or was simply the victim of a random attack. Already, though, his death was being seized on as supposed proof that authorities have failed to rein in crime.
In an update on Wednesday just before midnight, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott released a statement on the ongoing homicide investigation.
“I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family, friends, and loved ones of Mr. Lee. There is no place for this kind of violent crime against anyone in our city,” Chief Scott said.
“I want to assure everyone that our investigators are working tirelessly to make an arrest and bring justice to Mr. Lee and his loved ones, just as we try to do on every homicide that occurs in our city.”
He added the investigation is “still in the early stages” and said officials would not be commenting on evidence. “Nor will we speculate on the circumstances surrounding this horrific crime.”
Chief Scott added: “Although we will commit the necessary resources and personnel to this investigation, I want to assure everyone in San Francisco that our department is staffed and ready to respond to all calls for service.”
After finding out about his “good friend” being killed, former UFC fighter Jake Shields claimed Lee “was in the ‘good’ part of the city and appeared to have been targeted in a random mugging/attack.”
“Fuck San Francisco,” Shields added.
“Very sorry to hear that,” Twitter CEO Elon Musk replied to Shields’ tweet. “Many people I know have been severely assaulted. Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately.” Musk went on to ask San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins if the city is “taking stronger action to incarcerate repeat violent offenders.”
Tech venture capitalist Matthew Ocko went further, arguing that Jenkins’ predecessor Chesa Boudin and “the criminal-loving city council that enabled him” have “Bob’s literal blood on their hands.” “Take action,” Ocko wrote. He said Lee was a friend to him and people at his company, and that his “heart goes out to [Lee’s] loved ones.”
“Imagine having an amazing career, building a company that supports your city and citizens—only to be violently killed in a city that abandoned enforcement and forces its citizens to be defenseless,” Martech Zone founder Douglas Karr wrote in response to news of Lee’s death. “How #Sanfran politicians sleep at night is beyond me.”
The number of homicides in San Fransisco remained the same between 2021 and 2022, though the number of assaults and rapes increased slightly, according to SFPD data. In 2019, the city saw its lowest number of homicides in nearly 60 years. Twelve homicide victims have been recorded so far in 2023—two more than during the same period last year.
In a statement, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said that the city is “prioritizing public safety, including recently passing our budget supplemental so we have the police staffing necessary to have more police officers in our neighborhoods and to investigate violent crimes when they do occur. I’m confident that when the Police make an arrest in cases like this, our District Attorney will do what’s necessary to hold any individuals accountable for their actions.”
Wesley Chan, a venture capitalist and early Google employee, told The Daily Beast that Lee provided crucial support to many tech founders, hopping on the phone at all hours of the night to give guidance. He said Lee even helped him with one of his own engineering projects without asking for anything in return.
“He was both your cheerleader and your coach,” Chan said. “He made that incredibly lonely journey so much more bearable for a legion of people across Silicon Valley.”
Shields, the former UFC fighter, told The Daily Beast he was supposed to meet Lee in Miami on Thursday, and he described his late friend as low key and humble. “When we met I didn’t even know he was a big tech guy,” Shields said. “He’s a guy that no one has anything bad to say about. That’s why I’m almost certain this has to be random attack.”
Shields added that he and Lee had different political views, but they enjoyed engaging in “long, interesting debates.”
Another long-time friend, Ajit Varma, said he met Lee approximately 18 years ago; they attended a concert together, then stayed up until 7 a.m. hanging out and playing Nintendo Wii. Varma also recalled Lee’s welcoming and generous spirit. “He would always talk me up,” he said. “He was so smart and so caring. He always put his friends first.”
According to Varma, Lee grew up in St. Louis and had limited exposure to the tech world. Eventually, he started programming and developing open-source technology, which caught the eye of Google.
“At the time, Google was trying to recruit at, like, MIT and Stanford, and Bob didn't have like those kind of credentials,” Varma said. “But he was an amazing programmer. He was probably, like, maybe the smartest Java engineer that I ever met.”
Other colleagues and friends of Lee paid tribute on social media. “I just got devastating news that our friend Bob Lee... was killed in SF early today,” tweeted Bill Barhydt, co-founder of the Abra crypto wallet. “Bob was a dad, the former CTO of Square where he created Cash App & CTO of Mobile Coin. He was a generous decent human being who didn’t deserve to be killed.”
“So sad to hear of [Lee’s] untimely passing,” Figma CEO Dylan Field wrote in his tribute. “I first met him in summer 2006—he didn’t care that I was only 14 and we talked tech / geeked out about programming. We remained connected over the years and he was an early supporter of Figma. It’s so hard to believe he is gone.”
“RIP to one of the realist most brilliant humans I’ve ever met,” wrote Joshua Donaldson, founder of the nonprofit When the Music Stops. Donaldson added that Lee was a “rad single Dad.”
TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington called Lee “one of the best humans I’ve ever met,” while investor Megan Quinn described him as “the nicest person - always encouraging, always upbeat.”
“And that smile!” she added. “He was always smiling. That’s how I will remember him.”
Police have urged anyone with information about this case to call the SFPD 24-hour Tip Line at 1-415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD. You may remain anonymous or leave your information for follow-up by a homicide investigator.
Read it at SFGate
