The CashApp founder fled San Francisco for Miami because he was disturbed by the city’s slide into crime
A friend of the tech entrepreneur who was stabbed to death in the early hours of San Francisco on Tuesday said concerns about the city’s rising crime rate encouraged Bob Lee to move to Miami.
Lee, 43, was the chief financial officer of Square, the app founded by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, before launching mobile payments company Cash App. Dorsey was among those shocked and saddened by Lee’s murder.
Lee left San Francisco six months ago and moved to Miami, but was back in town on business. He extended his journey by a day and was killed.
“He was commenting on San Francisco’s deterioration, which is why he had actually just moved to Miami,” said Jake Shields, a champion UFC fighter who knew Lee well.
Shields made the decision to leave San Francisco on his own after his girlfriend was robbed, and is now based in Las Vegas.
“So I don’t. I’m not sure why he goes there to do business in San Francisco for a few days.”
Shields told NewsNation that Lee had “no enemies.” San Francisco police have not yet made any arrests.
“(He was) a good person — he contributed to society, he was a good person, everyone loved him,” Shields said.
“He was really respected in the tech community, never talked about his accomplishments. Other people would tell me, ‘oh yeah, Bob is a super big deal in the tech industry.’
‘I would find that interesting. He’s a good man!’
Shields said he and Lee did not share the same political perspective, but enjoyed exchanging opinions.
“It sucks that something happened to such a good person,” Shields said.
“Sometimes we disagreed politically, but he’s a man who likes to discuss and hear other perspectives.”
A father of two young daughters, Lee had moved to Miami in October 2022 and was living with his father.
Some reports said his wife Krista still lived in San Francisco. Lee’s father called him “a bachelor,” but it was unclear if Lee and his wife were still married.
Shields said he was a devoted father.
“He had two daughters that he loved very much,” Shields said.
“You know, they spoke highly of him.
“So it is extremely sad that he leaves two daughters to grow up without their father”
Footage on Wednesday obtained by The San Francisco Standard reportedly showed Lee’s final moments.
The images — which DailyMail.com has not independently verified — show Lee walking down Main Street at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, near Rincon Park and the Ferry Building in a bustling and central part of the city.
With one hand he holds his side and with the other hand he holds his phone, the newspaper reported.
Tech executive and investor Bob Lee, who helped create Android and Cash App, was stabbed to death in San Francisco on Tuesday night
Lee was stabbed and walked onto Main Street at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday (pictured), with the Bay Bridge following behind
He asked a driver for help, but the driver sped away: Lee then collapsed in front of this building
Authorities confirmed he was rushed to hospital but died of his injuries in the early hours of Tuesday
Walking with the Bay Bridge behind him, he crosses the intersection with Harrison Street and approaches a waiting white Toyota Camry – which some speculated might be part of the drive, he called for help.
Lee lifts his shirt to reveal his stab wounds, and the car drives off.
Lee then stumbles up the hill and collapses in front of 403 Main Street, an apartment complex called Portside.
“Police responded to the Main Street stabbing around 2:35 a.m. and found a man with stab wounds,” they said in a statement.
“The victim was rushed to the hospital where he died.”
Police were called to the 300 block of Main Street at the entrance to an apartment building and found the father of two with multiple stab wounds
Bob Lee, pictured with his wife Krista and two daughters, had decided to stay an extra day in San Francisco on a business trip
Known as “Crazy Bob” by friends, Lee was an active investor in numerous companies, such as SpaceX, Clubhouse, and Figma
But he was back in San Francisco for a business trip and extended it for one night.
Elon Musk was among those commenting on Lee’s murder, asking San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins what she does to “lock up repeat offenders.”
Musk, in response to a tweet expressing his grief over Lee’s death, said, “I’m sorry to hear that. Many people I know have been severely abused. Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often immediately released.
“Is the city taking stricter measures to lock up repeat offenders Brooke Jenkins?”
Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter and Tesla, also commented on the horrific incident, asking the San Francisco District Attorney what she is doing to “lock up repeat violent offenders”
“I just lost my best friend, my son Bob Lee, when he was killed early Tuesday morning on the street in San Francisco,” Ricky Lee wrote.
Lee’s father Ricky Lee posted a message on Facebook Wednesday afternoon confirming his death
Known as “Crazy Bob” by friends, Lee was an active investor in numerous companies, such as SpaceX, Clubhouse, and Figma.
Heartbroken friends and colleagues paid tribute to the tech executive, with Joshua Goldbard saying, “My heart is broken tonight.”
He added, “Bob was a force of nature. Helped the birth of Android and CashApp in our world.
Moby was his dream: a privacy-protective wallet for the 21st century. I will miss him every day.’
Bill Barhydt added, “Bob was a dad, the former CTO of Square where he created Cash App and CTO of Mobile Coin.
“He was a generously decent man who didn’t deserve to be killed.”
Dorsey said, ‘It’s real. Get calls. Heartbreaking. Bob played an important role at Square and Cash App. STL man.”
The founder of cryptocurrency and payments company MobileCoin worked with Lee for two years, serving as Chief Product Officer since November 2021.
Lee was previously chief technology officer at Square – which recently rebranded itself as Block – when it developed and launched Square Cash in 2013.
Heartbroken friends and colleagues paid tribute to the tech executive, with Joshua Goldbard saying: ‘My heart is broken tonight’
Since then, the brand has grown into Cash App, with tens of millions of users in the US and UK.
Before that, Lee worked as a software engineer at Google from 2004 to 2010, where he helped design the core library for Android.
So far this year there have been 39 homicides in the city, two more than this time last year, as the rise in crime worries residents.
Democrat mayor London Breed said in February she is asking for nearly $30 million in additional funding for the city’s police force.
The San Francisco Police Department has faced rising overtime costs for current officers as the police force is understaffed.
Between 2021 and 2022, the department saw a 121 percent increase in total overtime hours, according to KPIX.
SFPD officials have also made targeted efforts to crack down on crime in certain areas of the city prone to incidents.
The San Francisco Police Department is currently short of 541 officers.
Police are urging anyone with information to come forward by calling the SFPD tip line 415-575-4444.