President Barack Obama wrote a poignant tribute on Monday to the late SurveyMonkey CEO Dave Goldberg, who died last week from a head injury suffered while exercising on vacation in Mexico.
In a post on the White House’s official Facebook page, the president called Goldberg “the definition of a real leader” for working to empower others and said he was "heartbroken" by Goldberg's sudden death.
“He was generous and kind with everybody, and cared less about the limelight than making sure that the people he worked with and loved succeeded in whatever they did,” he said in the post, signed “-bo” to indicate that the president himself -- and not one of his staffers -- had written the words. “His skills as an entrepreneur created opportunity for many; his love for his family was a joy to behold, and his example as a husband and a father was something we could all learn from.”
Goldberg, the husband of Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, died Friday after he was found on the floor of a gym near the Mexican coastal town of Puerto Vallarta.
Making her first public comments since Goldberg's death, Sandberg thanked Obama and said her late husband admired him.
"Thank you President Barack Obama for this beautiful tribute -- and for your friendship to our family," she wrote. "Dave Goldberg admired you for your leadership, passion, and your deep love of sports."
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also thanked Obama.
Goldberg and his wife had donated heavily to Democratic candidates in recent years, according to the nonprofit Sunlight Foundation. Of Goldberg's total $98,637 in contributions, $7,300 went to Obama.
David Goldberg embodied the definition of a real leader - someone who was always looking for ways to empower others. He...
Posted by The White House on Monday, May 4, 2015
This story has been updated with Sheryl Sandberg's comment.