David Goldberg, the chief executive of online-questionnaire provider SurveyMonkey and husband of Facebook Inc. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, died suddenly Friday night.
– Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, is known as a champion for women. What's less well-known is that her husband, Dave Goldberg, who died unexpectedly Friday at the age of 47, spent his life working to strengthen women's voices, reports the New York Times, which calls Goldberg "perhaps the signature male feminist of his era." Even as a teenager, his prom date says he pushed her to speak up in class, telling her, "They need to hear your voice." Years later, when an employee had a child, he didn't stop challenging her—but he did start letting her spend a day each week working from home. In his own life, he made sure he could be at home with the kids while his wife, whom he had encouraged to fight for a high salary, was traveling. Both often left work at 5:30 to have dinner with their two kids, the Los Angeles Times reported in 2013—though he noted that doesn't mean they don't work after dinner. Goldberg was "the first major chief executive in memory to spur his wife to become as successful in business as he was," adds the New York Times, and was a central figure in Sandberg's bestseller, Lean In. "The most important career choice you’ll make is who you marry. I have an awesome husband, and we’re 50/50," she said in 2011, per the Wall Street Journal. From his perspective: "It is great having one of the smartest people in business as your partner," he told the Los Angeles Times. "I always say, 'Well, Sheryl said.'"