Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey and husband of Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg, died of head trauma Friday night after he collapsed at a private resort's gym in Mexico, a Mexican government official said, according to the New York Times.
Goldberg was on vacation at the Four Seasons Resort near Punta Mita with family and friends. According to a spokesman for the prosecutor's office in Nayarit State, Goldberg left his room at around 4 p.m. on Friday, collapsed while exercising, and died of head trauma and blood loss.
Robert Goldberg, his brother, found him on the floor of the gym at the resort at around 7 p.m., with blood around him. The spokesman further said it appeared "he fell off the treadmill and cracked his head open."
Goldberg, who had weak vital signs, was then transported to Hospital San Javier in Nuevo Vallarta, where he later died. The spokesman said that the event appeared to be an accident.
SurveyMonkey's initial statement on Goldberg's death disclosed no cause or details. Facebook's chief executive Sandberg has not issued any public statements about her husband's death to date.
The family plans to hold an invitation-only celebration of Goldberg's life on Tuesday at the Stanford Memorial Auditorium. In an emailed invitation sent to friends, men were urged not to wear ties "in keeping with Dave's lifelong hatred of ties." The invitation also requested that "out of respect for the family, please do not take pictures or post to social media" from the event.
Goldberg previously worked at Yahoo and at a venture capital firm before running SurveyMonkey. He lived with Sandberg in Menlo Park, California, with their two children. His mother, Paula Goldberg, also survives him.
Aside from Goldberg's successes in his field, he is also known as a staunch supporter of his wife. Sandberg made their partnership a central theme of her best-selling book "Lean In," wherein she tells women that choosing the right partner is their most important career move.
"As Sheryl succeeded, Dave was simply so secure about his worth that he was able to take pride in everything she did and be unaffected in his love for her," Don Graham, former chairman of the board and The Post's former publisher, told The Washington Post.
SurveyMonkey has not yet announced a temporary successor to Mr. Goldberg, according to USA Today.
Currently, Selina Tobaccowala is the company's president, and Tim Maly is its chief operating officer and chief financial officer. Facebook has not indicated Ms. Sandberg's immediate plans. Both SurveyMonkey and Facebook did not respond to comment requests. SurveyMonkey is a startup that makes web survey technology.
