Bob Lee,
the founder of money-transfer company Cash App and the chief product officer at cryptocurrency company MobileCoin Inc., was fatally stabbed in San Francisco on Tuesday.
MobileCoin founder
Joshua Goldbard
confirmed Mr. Lee’s death in an email to The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Lee, who had been MobileCoin’s chief product officer since 2021, had previously worked on some of Silicon Valley’s most well-known products.
“He was a child of dreams, and whatever he imagined, no matter how crazy, he made real,” Mr. Goldbard, also MobileCoin’s chief executive, said Wednesday.
The San Francisco Police Department said a 43-year-old man was stabbed at around 2:35 a.m. on Tuesday, and later died at a hospital. The police said homicide investigators are looking into the stabbing and haven’t made any arrests. The department didn’t name the man, but Mr. Goldbard said Mr. Lee died at 43 on Tuesday.
Mr. Lee built a career as a Silicon Valley executive and angel investor, according to his LinkedIn page. He said he had invested in companies including SpaceX, run by
Elon Musk,
and Figma, the collaboration-software business
Adobe Inc.
agreed to acquire for $20 billion last year.
Mr. Lee worked on mobile products, according to MobileCoin. The company said he helped the World Health Organization design a cellphone app.
“He was made for the world that is being born right now,” Mr. Goldbard said.
He created Cash App while he was the first chief technology officer at Square Inc., where he worked from 2010 to 2014, according to his LinkedIn page and Mr. Goldbard. Cash App has since become a popular app for people looking to transfer money, buy crypto or trade stocks.
Cash App is owned by
Block Inc.,
which Square is now known as. Mr. Lee left Square, which makes mobile credit-card readers, about a year before the company went public.
Before Square, Mr. Lee worked at
Alphabet Inc.’s
Google, where he helped develop the Android mobile operating system that is used in many smartphones, according to his LinkedIn page and Mr. Goldbard.
Google and Block didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
“This may sound impressive, but Bob’s real resume is the hearts and minds he touched in his time on earth,” Mr. Goldbard said.
Mr. Lee first joined MobileCoin as an early-stage investor and adviser, Mr. Goldbard said. He later helped the company develop an encrypted mobile wallet.
On Twitter, he used the handle “crazybob.”
Mr. Goldbard said Mr. Lee is survived by his children.
Write to Alyssa Lukpat at [email protected]
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