A high-profile Bay Area tech executive was killed in a stabbing in San Francisco.
Sources tell NBC Bay Area Bob Lee was attacked early Tuesday morning near Rincon Hill and the Bay Bridge.
Lee, 43, was the chief product officer of MobileCoin. He was also former chief technology officer of Square and one of the co-founders of Cash App.
Officers responded at about 2:35 a.m. to a report of a stabbing in the 300 block of Main Street and arrived to find Lee, who was taken to a hospital and succumbed to his injuries there.
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No arrest has been made in the case and San Francisco police have not released any suspect details.
Anyone with information about the fatal stabbing is asked to call the Police Department's tip line at 415-575-4444 or to send a tip by text message to TIP411 with "SFPD" at the start of the message.
In a Facebook post from a profile appearing to belong to Lee’s father, the tech executive is remembered as someone who “would give you the shirt off his back.”
“He would never look down on anyone and adhered to a strict no-judgment philosophy,” the Facebook post 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.”
The slaying has prompted some, including Twitter chief Elon Musk, to address violent crime in the city.
"Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately," Musk said in a reply to mixed martial artist Jake Shields, who was tweeting about Lee's death.
MobileCoin CEO Josh Goldbar provided the following statement Wednesday:
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.
Bob was a dynamo, a force of nature. Bob was the genuine article. He was made for the world that is being born right now, he was a child of dreams, and whatever he imagined, no matter how crazy, he made real.
Bob was made for the new world, he was the quintessential creator, leader, and consummate hacker. From large contributions to Android at google, to being the first CTO of Square, in that time creating CashApp, and working with us here at Mobilecoin, Bob surely had an impact that will last far beyond his short time on earth.
This may sound impressive, but Bob’s real resume is the hearts and minds he touched in his time on earth. Bob’s legacy is the feeling that you can make a difference if you try, and of course his amazing children.
Bob first came to MobileCoin as an early-stage investor and advisor because he believed in the vision of privacy in commerce. He then came on as our Chief Product Officer and helped launch our Moby app, delivering to the work a best-in-class, non-custodial wallet to support the goal of private payments for all. Crypto never saw anything like this before – Moby broke ground and continues to do so.
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 and to grow MobileCoin’s vision.
Steve Jobs said that “Real Artists ship” Bob was a real artist who shipped. Again and again and again. And we will keep on shipping, channeling Bob’s enthusiasm and spirit.
Here's to the crazy ones. We will miss you Bob. We love you.
For now, MobileCoin will mourn. We turn our attention to honoring Bob's legacy by holding his loved ones close.
Bay City News contributed to this report.
