Tech CEO Bob Lee, founder of mobile payments service Cash App, was killed in a stabbing in San Francisco, according to government and media reports.
Police arrived around 2:35 a.m. Tuesday after receiving 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 press release. Police found a 43-year-old man with stab wounds and administered first aid.
After paramedics were called to the scene, the man was taken to 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 an ongoing investigation, but many media reported that Lee, the product manager of crypto startup MobileCoin, was the victim.
MobileCoin released a statement about Lee’s death but did not disclose any details.
“Our dear friend and colleague Bob Lee passed away yesterday at the age of 43, survived by a loving family and gathering of close friends and collaborators,” the statement said. .
“He was made for the world that is being born right now. Bob is the child of dreams, and whatever he imagines, no matter how crazy, he turns into reality,” said MobileCoin. “Bob was made for the new world.”
Lee has been with MobileCoin since 2021 and previously served as chief technology officer at payments platform Square, later renamed Block, in addition to founding Cash App.
Joshua Goldbard, CEO of MobileCoin, wrote on Twitter that “there will never be anyone like” Lee.
“As a lifelong resident of the Bay Area, I have more questions than answers tonight,” he wrote. “I don’t know how to fix what’s wrong, but I know something is wrong in our gray 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 the target of a robbery/random attack,” Shields wrote of the stabbing, which happened on a block near several office buildings. , including Salesforce Tower and Google offices in San Francisco .
Twitter CEO Elon Musk replied to the tweet, expressing his condolences and calling violent crime in the city “terrible.”
“So sorry to hear that,” he wrote. “Many people I know have been severely assaulted.”
San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey posted on Twitter that he had heard from voters expressing 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 suspects are in custody.”
San Francisco Atty County. Brooke Jenkins also wrote about Lee’s death on Twitter.
“I would like to extend my sincerest condolences to Mr. Lee’s family members and 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 this year, compared with 10 in the same period last year, according to crime statistics.
According to the police department, homicides in San Francisco fell slightly from 56 in 2021 to 55 in 2022. Overall, violent crime fell 13.6 percent from 2019 to 2022, from 6,152 cases down to 5,315 cases.
