Behind Tech Entrepreneur's Death: 'The Lifestyle'

'Wall Street Journal' looks at the underground party scene linked to killing of Bob Lee
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 15, 2023 11:49 AM CDT
Updated May 21, 2023 11:30 AM CDT
Behind Tech Entrepreneur's Death: 'The Lifestyle'
Nima Momeni, the man charged in the fatal stabbing of Cash App founder Bob Lee, smiles as he makes his way into the courtroom at the Hall of Justice for his arraignment in San Francisco on May 2.   (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, Pool)

After Cash App founder Bob Lee was stabbed to death in San Francisco last month, police arrested 38-year-old Nima Momemi, who was allegedly upset over Lee's relationship with Momemi's sister. Now the Wall Street Journal reports on another apparent factor: Lee's participation in what's known as "The Lifestyle," which the newspaper describes as the underground party scene within San Francisco's wealthy tech community that emphasizes recreational drug use and casual sex. Both Lee and Momeni's sister hung with that crowd, and Lee had told friends the two were having a casual physical relationship, according to the newspaper. For the record, Lee's wife—they were separated but remained close—disputes this "party boy" description of Lee.

But multiple other people say it's true in the wide-ranging Journal story, which digs into the late-night stabbing of Lee, his business background, and what's known about the suspect. But in regard to "The Lifestyle": The story explains that to some, the term "is narrowly focused to describe people who might engage in various sexual activities with different partners," while in San Francisco, "it is used more loosely to describe an underground party scene that has evolved since the city's early days as an incubator of the countercultural movement." Lee friend Harper Reed of General Galactic Corp. puts it this way: "It started with the hippies, who were not sober people, trying to expand their brains, and the tech people came in and gentrified it like they did everything else." (Read the full story.)

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