Cash App founder and Android creator Bob Lee stabbed to death in San Francisco

Tech boss Bob Lee, who created Cash App and Android, was found stabbed to death. Credit: Twitter / @crazybob

A tech-boss, famed for creating the Cash App payments platform, was stabbed to death in downtown San Francisco early on Tuesday.

Bob Lee, 43, was found with stab wounds near the city's Embarcadero waterfront at 2.35am on Tuesday.

The San Francisco Police Department said they were called to a stabbing, and discovered Robert Lee suffering from apparent stab wounds.

Medics rushed to the scene but despite efforts Lee died after being taken to hospital.

Police Chief Bill Scott said: "This investigation is still in the early stages. Because of this we are not commenting on evidence, nor will we speculate on the circumstances surrounding this horrific crime.”

The police did not provide any details on the circumstances of the stabbing.

MobileCoin, a cryptocurrency payment app, confirmed Lee's death on Wednesday. Lee was the chief product officer of the firm.

A woman walks past flowers left outside an apartment building where the technology executive was fatally stabbed in San Francisco Credit: AP

CEO Josh Goldbard said: “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.”

Goldbard said Lee was “made for the new world.”

He added: “From large contributions to Android at Google, to being the first CTO [chief technology officer] of Square, in that time creating Cash App, and working with us here at Mobilecoin, Bob surely had an impact that will last far beyond his short time on earth."

Lee was fatally stabbed in the densely populated Rincon Hill neighbourhood of San Francisco, near Google's office, where he previously worked and helped to create Android.

The neighborhood is a mix of offices and modern condo buildings.

His death further enflamed debate over public safety in San Francisco and its downtown, which has not yet bounced back from the pandemic.

Outside an apartment building below the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge where a technology executive was fatally stabbed in San Francisco. Credit: AP

Wesley Chan, co-founder of FPV Ventures, who befriended Lee more than a decade ago when they both worked at Google paid tribute to the late tech executive.

Chan said: “He was an incredibly iconic founder in the tech world.

"His resume reads something like a Fortune cover article.

“With everything that Bob worked on, it was always a pleasant surprise,” Chan said.

“That’s one of the things I loved about him. He was always humble about it, he’d say, ‘Oh, I don’t know if it’s going to work or not, but we’ll try."

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