Cash App founder killed — latest: Audio released of Bob Lee’s final 911 call after fatal stabbing
Cash App founder Bob Lee could be heard pleading for help in a 911 call after he was fatally stabbed in San Francisco early on Tuesday morning.
In audio from a police scannerm obtained by NBC Bay Area, a dispatcher tells responding officers: “There’s a male screaming ‘help,’ saying, ‘someone stabbed me’.”
The police dispatcher then added: “Advised he is bleeding out.”
Police arrived six minutes later, at 2.40am, to find Mr Lee suffering from two stab wounds to the chest outside a luxury residential building on Rincon Hill.
The 45-year-old was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital but he died soon after.
Five days on from the high-profile killing, San Francisco police say it is still too soon to determine whether the stabbing was a random attack.
San Francisco police chief William Scott told CBS News that his officers were chasing promising leads. “We have a lot on our plate with this investigation and following up things that need to be followed up on,” he said.
The case has sparked fresh outrage over crime in the city, with friends revealing that Mr Lee had recently relocated to Miami due to safety fears.
Key Points
District Attorney says Bob Lee’s murder is 'going to take time to solve’
‘A small minority has tried to weaponize this tragedy,’ police commissioner says
Lee helped World Health Organisation develop mobile app during Covid-19 pandemic
‘He had a way of seeing the world that was enchanting'
What we know about the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee
Convenience store owner says ‘we’ve never seen anything like this’
05:00 , Gustaf Kilander
Bob Lee was staying at the One Hotel, about half a mile from where he was found.
Sam Habash has operated a convenience store for almost 20 years located across the street from the apartment building in Portside where Mr Lee was discovered.
“This doesn’t happen a lot around here,” he told ABC7. “We’ve never seen anything like this ... this is too much, my condolences to the family.”
District Attorney says Bob Lee’s murder is 'going to take time to solve’
03:00 , Gustaf Kilander
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins told ABC7 that “anytime we have somebody who has committed murder, we should all be concerned if they are out and about on our streets. That is why SFPD is working so hard to solve this case ... Unfortunately, this is one that’s going to take time to solve”.
She was asked by the outlet if she would “consider it unusual for a kitchen knife to be used in an alleged targeted attack?”
“As a former prosecutor in our homicide unit, I have seen murders committed in all various types of ways. Oftentimes people who choose to commit murder choose to do it in ways they believe they can more successfully get away with it,” Ms Jenkins said
“I would ask that people not rush to judgment about the circumstances of this murder, we have nothing about how this happened, whether this was a repeat offender or a targeted attack,” she added.
Influential startup investor
01:00 , Bevan Hurley
Lee was also an influential startup investor, ploughing money into nascent companies such as Clubhouse, SpaceX and and the female-focused social media and networking company Present.
In 2021, he joined MobileCoin, a crypto payment firm, as its chief product officer, where he helped launch Moby a crypto and payment app.
After the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency giant FTX in late 2022, Lee explained that he had lost his personal deposits in the firm and was unlikely to get them back.
“This is why we made Moby — to make holding your own money as easy as centralised solutions,” he wrote on Twitter.
‘A small minority has tried to weaponize this tragedy,’ police commissioner says
Sunday 9 April 2023 23:00 , Gustaf Kilander
The San Francisco police Commissioner Kevin Benedicto said at a meeting of the commission earlier this week that some social media users “are exploiting this horrific incident for political gain”.
“A small minority has tried to weaponize this tragedy to advance a narrative about a crime wave that just isn’t borne out by the data in San Francisco,” he added on Thursday, according to The New York Times.
“There are real problems about crime that need to be addressed in San Francisco,” he told the paper. “But you’re seeing people from tech, from certain political circles, who are trying to draw explicit connections to certain policies and elected officials when we don’t even yet know the facts of the case.”
Cash App founder Bob Lee left San Francisco over crime but was back to visit when he was stabbed, says friend
Sunday 9 April 2023 21:00 , Gustaf.Kilander
Cash App founder Bob Lee had relocated to Miami from San Francisco due to fears of rising crime but was back visiting the California city when he was stabbed to death in an apparent random mugging, according to a friend.
The tech mogul was found at 2.35am Tuesday outside a luxury high-rise apartment on the 300 block of Main St near Rincon Hill and the Bay Bridge, with life-threatening stab wounds, the police said.
Lee’s friend and mixed martial arts champion Jake Shields said that the entrepreneur had just moved to Miami due to a rise in drug abuse and crime in San Francisco.
He told NewsNation that the attack was another “senseless act of violence in San Francisco”.
“He did comment on San Francisco deteriorating, which is why he had actually just relocated to Miami,” Mr Shields said.
Read more:
Slain tech mogul Bob Lee had left San Francisco over crime, says friend
Timeline of Bob Lee murder – Cash App founder who moved out of San Francisco due to rising crime rate
Sunday 9 April 2023 19:00 , Shweta Sharma
Bob Lee, who was the founder of the multibillion-dollar tech company Cash App, had relocated to Miami and was reportedly staying an extra day in San Francisco where he was stabbed to death on Tuesday.
The 43-year-old tech mogul was found at 2.35am outside a luxury high rise apartment on the 300 block of Main St near Rincon Hill and the Bay Bridge with life-threatening stab wounds, the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement.
Lee was the chief product officer of San Francisco-based cryptocurrency startup MobileCoin and an active investor in companies such as SpaceX, Clubhouse, and Figma.
Lee was a much-loved member of the San Francisco tech community, where he was affectionately known as Crazy Bob.
He is survived by two young daughters and his wife Krista.
Read more:
Timeline of Bob Lee murder – Cash App founder who moved out of San Francisco
San Francisco Mayor says Bob Lee’s death is a 'horrible tragedy’
Sunday 9 April 2023 17:00 , Gustaf Kilander
London Breed, the mayor of San Francisco, said in a statement that “the homicide of Bob Lee is a horrible tragedy and my sympathies go out to his family and friends”.
“The Police are actively investigating what happened and will share details as soon as they can,” she added. “San Francisco is prioritizing public safety, including recently passing our budget supplemental so we have the police staffing necessary to have more police officers in our neighborhoods and to investigate violent crimes when they do occur.”
“I’m confident that when the Police make an arrest in cases like this, our District Attorney will do what’s necessary to hold any individuals accountable for their actions,” Ms Breed said.
VIDEO: Outcry over crime following tech exec's death in San Francisco
Sunday 9 April 2023 15:00 , The Independent
Bob Lee: A genius tech visionary killed in a ‘horrifying act of violence’
Sunday 9 April 2023 13:00 , Bevan Hurley
The outpouring of tributes, memories and anecdotes that have streamed over social media since tech pioneer Bob Lee was stabbed to death tell of a genius engineer, a serial innovator, a loving family man, and, as his nickname Crazy Bob would suggest, someone with a sense of humour.
Friends told how Lee dropped out of St Louis University, Missouri, and through sheer brilliance at computer coding and a determination to improve the lives of others went on to develop digital tools such as Google’s Android and the Cash App that are now used by tens of millions of people each day.
He had a “kaleidoscopic mind” who moved seamlessly between different circles of friends, wrote Joshua Goldbard, the founder and chief executive of MobileCoin, where Lee had worked as chief product officer since 2021.
“Pick a topic and Bob would be right there with you telling you all of the ways he had thought about the idea already,” Mr Goldbard said on Twitter. “He had a way of seeing the world that was enchanting. He was a visionary in so many ways.”
Read more:
Bob Lee: A genius tech visionary killed in a ‘horrifying act of violence’
What we know about the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee
Sunday 9 April 2023 11:00 , Bevan Hurley
High-profile tech entrepreneur Bob Lee was stabbed to death outside an apartment building in San Francisco early on Tuesday morning, grieving friends and family have confirmed.
The 43-year-old was found at 2.35am outside a luxury high rise apartment on the 300 block of Main St, near Rincon Hill and the Bay Bridge, with life-threatening stab wounds, the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement.
The tech executive was treated at the scene by first responders before being rushed to hospital where he died from his injuries, police said. No arrests have been made.
Here’s what we know so far about the murder:
What happened to Cash App founder Bob Lee?
Cash App founder Bob Lee called 911 and said he was bleeding out as he lay dying on a San Francisco street
Sunday 9 April 2023 09:00 , Gustaf Kilander
Tech guru Bob Lee called 911 and said he was bleeding out as he lay dying from stab wounds on a San Francisco street, new audio revealed.
Police found the 43-year-old unconscious on the pavement at around 2.40am on Tuesday, about six minutes after he called 911 to say that he had been stabbed and was bleeding heavily, according to The San Francisco Standard.
Lee was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he passed away.
Little information has been released about the stabbing and the authorities haven’t shared any details about a possible suspect.
Lee was the chief product officer at MobileCoin – a crypto company, a former executive at Square – a payment firm now called Block, and the founder of Cash App, also a payment app.
Bob Lee told 911 he was bleeding out as he lay dying on San Francisco street
Lee defied arrogant and self-centered ‘tech bro’ stereotype, friend says
Sunday 9 April 2023 07:00 , AP
Lee defied the arrogant and self-centered “tech bro” stereotype affixed to certain men in the San Francisco Bay Area tech scene, and instead exuded an “innate kindness,” said longtime friend Tommy Sowers.
Sowers and Lee first met at a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., where Sowers, a former Green Beret and Iraq war veteran, was running for Congress. Lee, newly hired at Square, was touting an app that could help his campaign fundraising. Both men were from Missouri.
Lee’s two children joined the men on hikes and dinners. It was not unusual for Lee to be out late, said Sowers, and he loved San Francisco.
“I’d want to go to bed at like 9. He talked me into going someplace till midnight, and then he’d be like, ‘Well, there’s another one,’ and you’d go to that. And he’s like, ‘There’s another one.’ He just had real boundless energy.”
Part of those late-night sessions involved talking about technology, including San Francisco’s unique role far away from the political power in Washington and the big money in New York.
“San Francisco is all about the idea, and you’re as good as your current or next idea,” said Sowers, who, with Lee’s counsel, went on to start his own real estate technology company and now works for a North Carolina-based private jet company.
Sowers said he doesn’t know the origins of the “Crazy Bob” handle Lee used on Twitter.
“But it fit. Not in a way of being reckless, but, he was kind of up for anything.”
Former District Attorney criticised after Bob Lee’s death
Sunday 9 April 2023 05:00 , Josh Marcus
A perception remains that San Francisco officials are soft on crime, with much of the anger funnelled at former DA Chesa Boudin, who was eventually recalled in 2022.
He took steps alternatively celebrated by criminal justice reformers and reviled by critics, such as rolling back the use of often racially disproportionate “sentence enhancements,” and directing prosecutors to consider the immigration status of certain drug criminals and avoid high-level charges against non-violent offenders who could be deported.
Even after he left office in 2022, facing a well-funded recall effort, some were still blaming Mr Boudin for the city’s crime problems.
Matt Ocko, a Palo Alto tech venture capitalist who was friends with Bob Lee, blamed former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin and what he called the “criminal-loving city council” for creating a “lawless” city.
“Take action,” he urged city leaders on Twitter, claiming they have “Bob’s literal blood on their hands.”
Former San Francisco DA slammed for decriminalizing ‘quality-of-life’ crimes
Sunday 9 April 2023 03:00 , Josh Marcus
Some have argued that the singling out of former San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin is unfair, as one local prosecutor like Mr Boudin couldn’t be blamed for a city’s failure to ensure a social safety net.
“As a prosecutor, Boudin could not undo the root causes driving displacement,” the Vera Institute of Justice, a liberal criminal justice reform group, wrote in a post-mortem of the recall effort. “He decriminalized what are commonly referred to as ‘quality-of-life’ crimes, like public camping and public urination. He also sought alternatives to incarceration to address substance use, including investments in diversion programs proven to reduce harm.”
“Those policies drew the ire of people who wanted to police the housing crisis rather than invest in the public housing and support services needed to address it,” the group added.
Criticised ex-DA filed about as many charges as any other prosecutor since 2011
Sunday 9 April 2023 01:00 , Josh Marcus
Analysis from Mission Local shows that former San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin filed about as many charges as any other prosecutor in the city since 2011, while city police data shows overall crime and larceny theft on a downward trend in the years before and during when Mr Boudin was in office.
In some categories, like burglary, crime did go up while Mr Boudin was in office, rising by 45 per cent, though it’s worth noting the DA was also in power during the immense social dislocation of the pandemic.
Critics like Elon Musk also appear to take issue with pre-trial release in California, where those accused of crimes can sometimes pay cash bail to be released until their case is over, or can otherwise by released by diversion programmes.
As The Appeal reports, median bail in California is more than five times the national level, keeping thousands of people in jail despite having not been convicted of a crime because they can’t afford release like their wealthier counterparts. According to research from UCLA, the statewide percentage of unsentenced people in California jail populations has been increasing since 2017.
San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins, who replaced Mr Boudin after the recall, has said she will continue his practice of rarely seeking cash bail.
‘Crazy Bob’
Saturday 8 April 2023 23:00 , Bevan Hurley
Bob Lee was a much-loved member of the San Francisco tech community, where he was affectionately known as Crazy Bob.
After working as an open source code developer in St Louis, Missouri, Mr Lee moved to San Francisco in his early 20s in 2004 to work as an engineer at Google, according to the San Francisco Standard. There he led a team that developed the first Android app.
Mr Lee was headhunted by Square, becoming its 13th employee, where he helped launch the Cash App and became the payment firm’s first chief technology officer in 2011, a Linkedin profile shows.
After leaving Square in 2014, he invested in several tech startups including Clubhouse, Beeper and Faire, and the female-focused social media and networking company Present. He identified as a “stay at home dad” in an online blog post during this period.
In 2021, Mr Lee joined MobileCoin, a crypto payment firm, as its chief product officer.
‘I can’t imagine a situation where he would instigate a conflict'
Saturday 8 April 2023 21:00 , AP
Lee was generous with his time coaching and championing fellow engineers and entrepreneurs, said Wesley Chan, co-founder of FPV Ventures. The two met more than a decade ago when they both worked at Google, where Lee helped to build the Android smartphone operating system before its 2008 release.
Lee’s death has further enflamed debate over public safety in San Francisco and its moribund downtown, which has not yet bounced back from the pandemic. Twitter’s owner Elon Musk took to the social media site to post that “violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately.” Musk tagged the city’s district attorney in the post.
San Francisco suffers from property crime more than violent crime such as murder, rape, robbery and assault. In a statement, San Francisco Mayor London Breed called the homicide “a horrible tragedy” and said that the city is prioritizing public safety.
Longtime friend Tommy Sowers said it’s hard to picture what led to Lee’s violent death.
“I can’t imagine a situation where he would instigate a conflict,” he said. “That’s the tragedy of it.”
Music mogul’s Democrat daughter blames liberal politicians for San Francisco Cash App founder stabbing
Saturday 8 April 2023 19:00 , Gustaf.Kilander
Actor and model Sara Foster has blamed the “liberal” politicians leading San Francisco following the stabbing death of the co-founder of Cash App Bob Lee.
The tech guru called 911 and said he was bleeding out as he lay dying from his wounds on a street in the city, new audio has revealed.
Police found the 43-year-old unconscious on the pavement at around 2.40am on Tuesday, about six minutes after he called the emergency services to say that he had been attacked and was bleeding heavily, according to The San Francisco Standard.
Mr Lee was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he passed away.
Ms Foster reacted to Mr Lee’s death in an Instagram story, writing:
“I have no words. SF is a complete s***hole. I am a registered Democrat and feel confident saying liberal politicians are ruining cities”.
“Disgusting. My heart breaks for this family,” she added.
Read more:
Music mogul’s daughter blames liberal politicians for Cash App founder stabbing
A tech CEO has been murdered and Elon Musk blames San Francisco’s ‘horrific’ rise in crime. Is he right?
Saturday 8 April 2023 17:00 , Josh Marcus
Bob Lee, the founder of the Cash App, was stabbed to death in San Francisco in an apparently random early morning mugging on Tuesday, according to friends and colleagues.
The well-respected tech executive, who also served previous roles at companies Square and Block, was mourned by members of the tech community in San Francisco and beyond, including Twitter owner Elon Musk, who vented his frustrations about the city’s violent crime.
“Many people I know have been severely assaulted,” Mr Musk tweeted on Wednesday. “Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately.”
Read more:
Elon Musk blames ‘horrific’ San Francisco for a tech guru’s murder. Is he right?
VIDEO: San Francisco city leaders hold public town hall on safety
Saturday 8 April 2023 15:00 , The Independent
‘Too early’ to tell if Bob Lee stabbing was random, SF police chief says
Saturday 8 April 2023 14:25 , Bevan Hurley
The San Francisco police chief says he has “100% confidence” in his homicide unit amid criticism over slow progress in the investigation into the fatal stabbing of Cash App founder Bob Lee.
Bill Scott told CBS News that the department was continuing to chase promising leads.
“We have a lot on our plate with this investigation and following up things that need to be followed up on,” he said.
When asked if it was a random or targeted attack, Mr Scott said: “It’s too early to tell.”
San Francisco residents have voiced their fear and frustration with police and the city’s leadership since Lee was stabbed to death early on Tuesday morning.
Father of slain Cash App founder Bob Lee says he ‘would give you the shirt off his back’
Saturday 8 April 2023 13:00 , Bevan Hurley
The father of murdered tech mogul Bob Lee says he has lost his best friend as San Francisco police continue to hunt for suspects in the “random killing”.
Rick Lee paid tribute to his 43-year-old son in a Facebook post on Wednesday, a day after after he was stabbed to death in downtown San Francisco at around 2.30am on Tuesday morning.
Mr Lee wrote that the pair had lived together in Mill Valley, California, since the death of his wife in 2019, before relocating to Miami in October last year.
“Bob would give you the shirt off his back. He would never look down on anyone and adhered to a strict no-judgment philosophy,” his father wrote.
Read more:
Cash App founder Bob Lee’s father says he ‘would give you the shirt off his back’
Shocking video appears to show onlookers ignore dying Cash App founder as he begs for help
Saturday 8 April 2023 11:00 , Bevan Hurley
Clutching one side of his body where he is bleeding heavily from stab wounds, tech executive Bob Lee appears to approach a parked car in urgent need of medical care.
The 43-year-old father of two lifts his shirt to show the driver the extent of his injuries, but rather than help, the motorist speeds off.
Lee’s last tragic moments as he stumbled down Main St in San Francisco’s downtown district at 2.30am on Tuesday in search of help were captured on surveillance footage and viewed by journalists from The San Francisco Standard.
He was discovered at 2.35am outside a luxury residential building on the 300 block of Main St, near Rincon Hill and the Bay Bridge.
The footage initially shows Lee walking along a deserted sidewalk on Main St with his mobile phone in one hand and holding his side with the other, The Standard reports.
The Cash App founder then crosses at the intersection with Harrison St toward where a white Toyota Camry with flashing lights is parked.
Read more:
Shocking video appears to show onlookers ignore dying Cash App founder Bob Lee
Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey react after Cash App founder’s murder in San Francisco
Saturday 8 April 2023 09:00 , Bevan Hurley
Elon Musk claimed many of his San Francisco friends have been “severely assaulted” after Cash App founder Bob Lee was stabbed to death in the city on Tuesday.
The Twitter CEO offered his condolences to the 43-year-old’s grieving friends and called on San Francisco district attorney Brooke Jenkins to take tougher action against violent criminals.
“Many people I know have been severely assaulted,’ Mr Musk tweeted. “Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately. Is the city taking stronger action to incarcerate repeat violent offenders Brooke Jenkins?”
Mr Lee was found with fatal knife wounds outside a luxury apartment complex at 300 Main St, between Soma and the Financial District, at 2.35am on Tuesday.
Read more:
Elon Musk reacts after Cash App founder Bob Lee stabbed to death in Rincon Hill
San Francisco Police Department short of 548 officers even as applications increase
Saturday 8 April 2023 07:00 , Gustaf Kilander
The San Francisco Police Department is short of 548 officers even as applications increase, Chief Bill Scott has said.
“Our applications have gone up we’re double where we were last year on applications,” he said, according to ABC7.
Supervisor Joel Engardio represents the largest neighbourhood in the city, the Sunset District.
“I want to point out some good news. We have got to think about some good news today. I’m hopeful because you see our district attorney and our police chief sitting together here ... I cannot emphasize enough how important this is,” he said on Thursday night.
“We have to do all this together because we do well when we can do it together but we still have a long way to go,” Shief Scott added.
Sunset District residents criticise lack of focus on crime in neigbourhood
Saturday 8 April 2023 05:00 , Gustaf Kilander
Residents of the Sunset District in San Francisco have criticised the lack of focus on crime in the neighbourhood following the stabbing of tech executive Bob Lee.
“The focus has been on downtown and that’s not all of San Francisco. San Francisco has neighbourhoods, they need to be equally represented in terms of police, fire, the works,” Helen Smith told ABC7.
“We don’t have the right number of policemen,” she added.
“Right now, all the places are not safe, even in the Sunset that’s why we [are] concerned about it,” Elaine Trang said.
‘There’s evidence that we found that I can’t talk about,’ police chief says
Saturday 8 April 2023 04:00 , Gustaf Kilander
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said during a community meeting on Thursday night that “we’re investigating this as a murder absolutely. There’s evidence that we found that I can’t talk about because we don’t want to jeopardize this case”.
“There are some good developments in this case, I apologize but that’s as much as I can say at this point,” he added, according to ABC7.
A tech CEO has been murdered and Elon Musk blames San Francisco’s ‘horrific’ rise in crime. Is he right?
Saturday 8 April 2023 03:30 , Josh Marcus
Bob Lee, the founder of the Cash App, was stabbed to death in San Francisco in an apparently random early morning mugging on Tuesday, according to friends and colleagues.
The well-respected tech executive, who also served previous roles at companies Square and Block, was mourned by members of the tech community in San Francisco and beyond, including Twitter owner Elon Musk, who vented his frustrations about the city’s violent crime.
“Many people I know have been severely assaulted,” Mr Musk tweeted on Wednesday. “Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately.”
Read more:
Elon Musk blames ‘horrific’ San Francisco for a tech guru’s murder. Is he right?
Cash App founder Bob Lee left San Francisco over crime but was back to visit when he was stabbed, says friend
Saturday 8 April 2023 03:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Cash App founder Bob Lee had relocated to Miami from San Francisco due to fears of rising crime but was back visiting the California city when he was stabbed to death in an apparent random mugging, according to a friend.
The tech mogul was found at 2.35am Tuesday outside a luxury high-rise apartment on the 300 block of Main St near Rincon Hill and the Bay Bridge, with life-threatening stab wounds, the police said.
Lee’s friend and mixed martial arts champion Jake Shields said that the entrepreneur had just moved to Miami due to a rise in drug abuse and crime in San Francisco.
He told NewsNation that the attack was another “senseless act of violence in San Francisco”.
“He did comment on San Francisco deteriorating, which is why he had actually just relocated to Miami,” Mr Shields said.
Read more:
Slain tech mogul Bob Lee had left San Francisco over crime, says friend
Timeline of Bob Lee murder – Cash App founder who moved out of San Francisco due to rising crime rate
Saturday 8 April 2023 02:30 , Shweta Sharma
Bob Lee, who was the founder of the multibillion-dollar tech company Cash App, had relocated to Miami and was reportedly staying an extra day in San Francisco where he was stabbed to death on Tuesday.
The 43-year-old tech mogul was found at 2.35am outside a luxury high rise apartment on the 300 block of Main St near Rincon Hill and the Bay Bridge with life-threatening stab wounds, the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement.
Lee was the chief product officer of San Francisco-based cryptocurrency startup MobileCoin and an active investor in companies such as SpaceX, Clubhouse, and Figma.
Lee was a much-loved member of the San Francisco tech community, where he was affectionately known as Crazy Bob.
He is survived by two young daughters and his wife Krista.
Read more:
Timeline of Bob Lee murder – Cash App founder who moved out of San Francisco
