Cash App Founder Bob Lee Remembered as 'Brilliant Investor' and 'Best Java Programmer in the World'

Cash App founder Bob Lee (43), died Tuesday morning after a fatal stabbing early in the morning in San Francisco's Rincon Hill neighbourhood. Lee, who had relocated from San Francisco to Miami previously, was visiting San Francisco on a short visit.

Lee, who was born in Missouri, worked as an engineering before moving to San Francisco to work for Google in 2004. After working for Google's core library for five years, Lee was hired to work on Square's app. Later, Lee became Square's chief technology officer. He held this position until 2014.

CashApp, a payment service that is now widely used, was developed by Lee in 2013.

Lee's interests went beyond the business world. He helped the World Health Organization create its app in the aftermath of Covid-19.

He joined MobileCoin in November 2021 as chief product officer, a cryptocurrency peer-to-peer platform.

Many people called Lee "Crazy Bob", a nickname that he acquired during his days of water polo, because of his energy and ambition.

Online, friends, family and other tech-savvy people have remembered their colleague and friend.

MobileCoin's CEO Josh Goldbard posted on the company website that "He was born for the world which is currently being created." "Bob is a dreamer, and he has made his wildest dreams come true. Bob was born for the new age."

Block Inc. cofounder Jim McKelvey said to Bloomberg that he had recruited Lee to Square.

McKelvey said that "Jack [Dorsey], a man who does not like to exaggerate, told the outlet that Bob Lee is the best Java programmer on the planet."

Wesley Chan, a venture capitalist, expressed his condolences on LinkedIn, remembering Lee as "a brilliant investor, a talented engineer and a good friend."

"Bob was a man of great energy. His nickname was Crazy Bob, in a good way. Every time he visited me while we were together in SF...I would leave feeling energized," he wrote. "Bob you will be missed by many. "I learned a lot from your example, and I don't know what else to say, except that what happened was just tragic and terrible."

Figma CEO Dylan Field recalled meeting Lee as a teenager and "geeked about programming."

We are so sorry to hear about URL's premature death. He didn't mind that I was 14 when I met him for the first time in 2006. We talked about tech and geeked out over programming. Over the years, we remained in touch and he was a strong supporter of Figma. It's hard to believe that he has passed.

Dylan Field (URL), April 5, 2023

Elon Musk tweeted that he is "very sorry" about Lee's death.

Rick Lee, Lee's dad, posted on Facebook: "Bob will give you his shirt." He said that he and Lee moved to Mill Valley, California (in 2019) and Miami (2022).

"I'm happy that we have been able to be so close in the last few years," he said. Lee's older brother, Tim, shared his grief on Facebook, saying that Lee was the "best of us" and he felt like he had lost "part of himself."