Tech executive Bob Lee, who founded the mobile payment service Cash App, was killed in a stabbing in San Francisco, according to authorities and media reports.
Police responded at about 2:35 a.m. Pacific time Tuesday to a report of a stabbing on Main Street in the Rincon Hill neighborhood, near the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the San Francisco Police Department said in a news release. Officers found a 43-year-old man suffering from stab wounds and administered aid.
After paramedics were called to the scene, the man was taken to a hospital, where he died, police said. The attack is under investigation and no arrests have been made.
The San Francisco Police Department declined to provide further information, citing the ongoing investigation, but multiple media outlets have reported that Lee, who was chief product officer at cryptocurrency startup MobileCoin, was the victim.
MobileCoin issued a statement about Lee’s death but didn’t release any details.
“Our dear friend and colleague, Bob Lee passed away yesterday at the age of 43, survived by a loving family and collection of close friends and collaborators,” the statement said.
“He was made for the world that is being born right now. Bob was a child of dreams, and whatever he imagined, no matter how crazy, he made real,” MobileCoin said. “Bob was made for the new world.”
Lee had worked at MobileCoin since 2021 and previously served as chief technology officer at the payments platform Square, which has since been renamed Block, in addition to founding Cash App.
Joshua Goldbard, MobileCoin chief executive, wrote on Twitter that “there will never be anyone quite like” Lee.
“As a lifelong Bay Area resident I have more questions than answers tonight,” he wrote. “I don’t know how to fix what’s wrong, but I know something isn’t working in our grey city. Bob left this world too soon.”
Mixed martial artist Jake Shields wrote on Twitter that Lee was killed while walking in San Francisco.
“He was in the ‘good’ part of the city and appeared to have been targeted in a random mugging/attack,” Shields wrote of the stabbing, which occurred on a block near many office buildings, including Salesforce Tower and Google’s San Francisco offices.
Twitter Chief Executive Elon Musk replied to the tweet, expressing his condolences and calling violent crime in the city “horrific.”
“Very sorry to hear that,” he wrote. “Many people I know have been severely assaulted.”
San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey posted on Twitter that he’s heard from constituents who expressed concerns about public safety in the area and encouraged residents to help with the investigation.
“My heart goes out to Mr. Lee’s family members, friends and loved ones,” Dorsey wrote. “This is a senseless tragedy that I know is made worse by the fact that no suspect is yet in custody.”
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins also wrote about Lee’s death on Twitter.
“I want to extend my sincerest condolences to Mr. Lee’s family members & loved ones for his loss,” she wrote. “We do not tolerate these horrific acts of violence in San Francisco.”
The Police Department has investigated 12 homicides so far this year, compared to 10 during the same time period last year, according to crime statistics.
Homicides in San Francisco dropped slightly from 56 in 2021 to 55 in 2022, according to the police department. Overall violent crime fell 13.6% from 2019 to 2022, from 6,152 to 5,315 incidents.
———
