Tech mogul and Cash App founder Bob Lee had just relocated to Miami before he was stabbed to death in San Francisco early Tuesday after he said the city was “deteriorating,” his friend said.
The 43-year-old dad of two, who formerly served as the chief technology officer of Square, was fatally attacked while walking in the city’s downtown Rincon Hill neighborhood — former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s district — around 2:30 a.m., according to San Francisco police.
Lee’s pal and mixed martial arts champion Jake Shields told NewsNation that Lee had just moved away from the Bay Area city after remarking on its decline as drug abuse and crime have spiraled out of control.
“[Lee] did comment on San Francisco deteriorating, which is why he actually had just relocated to Miami,” Shields told the outlet. “So I’m not, I’m not sure why he’s going back there to get a little business back in San Francisco for a couple of days.”
Lee had sold his longtime multimillion-dollar home in the San Francisco area just months before he was killed, according to real estate records reviewed by The Post.
Tech executive Bob Lee, 43, was stabbed to death early Tuesday in a ritzy San Francisco neighborhood. FacebookHe bought the four-bedroom, three-bathroom residence in Mill Valley — just past the Golden Gate Bridge in affluent Marin County — in 2018 for $2.6 million.
He sold the home this past July for $4.43 million, records show.
Shields had tweeted on Tuesday that Lee “appeared to have been targeted in a random mugging/attack.”
Police found Lee with multiple stab wounds.
He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead, cops said.
Workers clean the sidewalk area where tech executive Bob Lee was stabbed to death outside 403 Main St. in San Francisco. David G. McIntyrePolice have not released a suspect description and no arrests have been made.
Few details have emerged on the circumstances of the attack.
According to surveillance footage obtained by the San Francisco Standard, Lee appeared to be holding his side with one hand and using his phone with the other while walking up Main Street away from the Bay Bridge around 2:30 a.m.
He crossed an intersection at Harrison Street and headed toward a parked white Camry with its lights flashing, footage appears to show.
Lee then reportedly lifted up his shirt — appearing to show the driver his wound and asking for help.
Lee leaves behind two daughters. FacebookThe car drives away and Lee falls to the ground, the video appears to show.
He got back to his feet and walked back down Main Street in the direction he came from before falling again in front of an apartment building at 403 Main St., according to the footage.
Later Wednesday morning, workers were at the spot where Lee fell cleaning up what appeared to be blood from the sidewalk and building wall, according to the Standard.
The footage does not show the moment Lee was fatally stabbed.
Lee also helped develop Android during his career in the tech industry. FacebookIn the wake of the incident, Twitter CEO Elon Musk blasted what he described as an ongoing spree of “violent crime” in San Francisco.
“Many people I know have been severely assaulted,” Musk tweeted. “Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately.”
The Tesla founder also asked San Francisco district attorney Brooke Jenkins if the city was “taking stronger action to incarcerate repeat offenders.”
A woman lays flowers by a tree near the area outside the building where tech executive Bob Lee was stabbed to death. David G. McIntyreThe median house price in the Rincon Hill neighborhood where Lee was slain is $1.4 million, according to realtor.com.
Lee had served most recently as the chief product officer of San Francisco-based cryptocurrency company MobileCoin since November 2021, according to his LinkedIn page.
During his illustrious tech career, Lee also worked at Google, where he led Android’s core library team and launched the world’s most-used operating system, according to his profile on MobileCoin’s official website.
