Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey and husband of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, died suddenly Friday night, according to a public Facebook post by his brother, Robert Goldberg. He was 47.
"It’s with incredible shock and sadness that I’m letting our friends and family know that my amazing brother, Dave Goldberg, beloved husband of Sheryl Sandberg, father of two wonderful children, and son of Paula Goldberg, passed away suddenly last night," Goldberg writes.
Goldberg had been CEO of SurveyMonkey since 2009. His time at SurveyMonkey was part of an epic career, full of ups-and-downs, during which the media company he founded got acquired by Yahoo right after the internet bubble burst in the early 2000s.
Read about Goldberg's incredible life here>>
While at SurveyMonkey, he grew the employee headcount from 13 to more than 500 and helped it swell to 25 million customers.
"Dave’s genius, courage and leadership were overshadowed only by his compassion, friendship and heart," the company says in a statement. "His greatest love was for his family. Our sympathy goes out to them and to all who were touched by this extraordinary man. We are all heartbroken."
Goldberg and Sandberg started dating in 2002. Sandberg has called marrying Goldberg one of her best career decisions, because they made a point to equally split their home responsibilities while prioritizing both of their careers.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg commemorated the loss on his profile: "Dave Goldberg was an amazing person and I am glad I got to know him. My thoughts and prayers are with Sheryl and her family. I hope friends will join me in celebrating his life by sharing your memories of Dave on his profile, as his brother Rob suggests."
There has also been an outpouring of sympathy and support from other members of the tech community, where Goldberg was a beloved figure:
—danprimack (@danprimack) May 2, 2015
—dick costolo (@dickc) May 2, 2015
—Jeff Weiner (@jeffweiner) May 2, 2015
—mikeeisenberg (@mikeeisenberg) May 2, 2015
—Chris Yeh (@chrisyeh) May 2, 2015
—Mo Koyfman (@mokoyfman) May 2, 2015
—Chad Byers (@chadbyers) May 2, 2015
In lieu of donations, Goldberg's brother asks those who knew Dave to post their memories and pictures of him to his Facebook profile.
