Husband of Facebook's COO dies on holiday

The husband of senior Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg has apparently died in a tragic accident on a treadmill at a Mexican resort.

Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook and late husband David Goldberg (L), chief operating officer of SurveyMonkey (File: EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT)

Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook and late husband David Goldberg (L), chief operating officer of SurveyMonkey (File: EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT)

US tech executive David Goldberg, the husband of Facebook's chief operating officer, apparently died after falling on a treadmill and striking his head at an upscale resort in Mexico, authorities say.

Goldberg, 47, was the chief executive of online polling firm SurveyMonkey and husband of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. He died suddenly on Friday, according to his brother, who did not give a cause of death.

Mexican officials on Monday confirmed he died in hospital after a workout accident during a family trip to a Pacific coast resort in Punta Mita, in Nayarit state.

"His relatives have indicated that he went to work out, and that they became concerned when he did not come back," an official at the state prosecutor's office said.

"They went looking for him and found him in a pool of blood next to a treadmill, apparently after he fell and struck his head at the hotel gym," the official said, declining to be named.

Goldberg sustained "severe head trauma and haemorrhaging", and died at a medical centre in Nuevo Vallarta, the official added.

Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said Goldberg was "an amazing person".

"I am glad I got to know him. My thoughts and prayers are with Sheryl and her family," Zuckerberg wrote in a posting.

Aside from her work at tech firms, Sandberg is the author of Lean In, a best-selling memoir presented as a modern feminist manifesto that urges women to work to succeed in juggling their careers and family life.

President Barack Obama remembered Goldberg as what he called a leader who always tried to empower others.

"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," Obama tweeted.

"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 father was something we could all learn from. We're heartbroken by him leaving us far too soon - but we celebrate a remarkable legacy," the president wrote.


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Source: AAP



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