EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — The Vikings are expressing condolences and prayers for the family of David Goldberg, who passed away Friday while on vacation.
Goldberg, 47, was founder of LAUNCH Media and the CEO of SurveyMonkey, which was recently valued at $2 billion.
In addition to his entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley, Goldberg was an advocate for women's rights and advancement opportunities in the corporate world, a supportive husband of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, a proud father and an avid Vikings fan.
"The Vikings would like to express our condolences to the family of David Goldberg and send our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time," said Vikings Owner/Chairman Zygi Wilf, who was acquainted with Mr. Goldberg. "Dave will be remembered as a man of great character and as a passionate fan of the Vikings."
The New York Times **wrote** Goldberg was "perhaps the signature male feminist of his era: the first major chief executive in memory to spur his wife to become as successful in business as he was, and an essential figure in Lean In, Ms. Sandberg's blockbuster guide to female achievement." The Times reported six of the 16 members of SurveyMonkey's management team are female, "an almost unheard of ratio among Silicon Valley 'unicorns,' or companies valued at over $1 billion."
Born in Minneapolis Oct. 2, 1967, Goldberg graduated from The Blake School in 1985 before graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1989. Goldberg worked for Capitol Records before founding LAUNCH Media in 1994, which was acquired by Yahoo in 2001. He worked for Yahoo for several years and joined SurveyMonkey in 2009.
Goldberg's mother, Paula Goldberg, co-founded the PACER Center in 1976. PACER Center is a nonprofit in Bloomington that supports families of children with disabilities and advocates for the prevention of bullying. In appreciation and support of the work PACER Center does, the Vikings and mascot Viktor have teamed together on a Quest to S.T.O.P. Bullying (vikings.com/stopbullying).
Friend and journalist Kara Swisher wrote for **recode.net*** *that Goldberg "was exactly the kind of leader that we need more of here and the kind of quiet conscience critical to transforming the community and its people into the better version of ourselves."
Photo courtesy New York Times
