Topline
Bob Lee, an executive at cryptocurrency firm MobileCoin who helped create Cash App during his time at Block (then Square), died Tuesday after being stabbed in San Francisco, according to media reports.
Bob Lee was stabbed to death in San Francisco on Tuesday morning.
Key Facts
Officers responded to reports of a stabbing near the Bay Bridge at 2:35 a.m. on Tuesday morning, and the 43-year-old businessman was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries, according to NBC Bay Area.
No arrest has been made in the case and San Francisco police have not released any suspect details.
Lee had reportedly moved to Miami and was visiting the Bay Area for the day when he was killed.
At the time of his death, Lee was working as chief product officer at MobileCoin, a cryptocurrency startup founded in 2017, and acted as an angel investor for companies like Tile and Figma.
Key Background
Lee created the mobile payment service Cash App in 2013 while he was working at Jack Dorsey’s Block formerly known as Square. He was hired by Block to develop the company’s Android app, and was promoted to chief technology officer in 2011. He joined MobileCoin in 2021.
News Peg
Joshua Goldbard, the creator of MobileCoin, posted a seven-tweet thread Wednesday describing Lee’s intelligence, energy and key roll in growing the company. He also added concerns about San Francisco’s safety, which was echoed by other Twitter users posting about the death. “As a lifelong Bay Area resident I have more questions than answers tonight. I don’t know how to fix what’s wrong, but I know something isn’t working in our grey city,” Goldbard wrote. The murder rate in San Francisco has risen slightly since 2019, but the overall crime rate is down, according to data from the city’s police department.
Crucial Quotes
Following the news of his death, there was an outpouring of grief online from the tech community.
“It’s real. Getting calls. Heartbreaking. Bob was instrumental to Square and Cash App,” Dorsey wrote on Nostr.
“I first met Lee in summer 2006 — he didn’t care that I was only 14 and we talked tech / geeked out about programming,” Figma CEO Dylan Field posted on Twitter early Wednesday morning. “We remained connected over the years and he was an early supporter of Figma. It’s so hard to believe he is gone.”
“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,” tweeted Bill Barhydt, the CEO of cryptocurrency investment app Abra.
Further Reading
Block says Cash App has 44 mln verified monthly users after Hindenburg report (Reuters)
What Is Cash App, And How Does It Work? (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherinehamilton/2023/04/05/cash-app-creator-bob-lee-dead-after-stabbing-in-san-francisco/