Business

(NEW YORK) — Several attorneys general announced a new $462 million settlement from e-cigarette manufacturer JUUL Labs on Wednesday.

The settlement is the largest multistate settlement which includes the most “stringent restrictions on the company’s marketing and sales to protect and to prevent minors from vaping,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said during a press conference.

James added “JUUL’s lies lead to a nationwide public health crisis and put addictive products in the hands of minors who thought they were doing something harmless,” James said at the press conference alongside attorneys general for Washington, D.C., California, Illinois and Massachusetts. Two other states, Colorado and New Mexico, are also recipients of the funds from the settlement.

“There is no doubt that JUUL played a central role in the youth vaping epidemic. Today, Juul is paying for the widespread harm it caused and will undergo severe restrictions on its marketing and sales practice,” James continued.

JUUL’s decision to target underaged students was widespread, the attorneys general said on Wednesday. In New York, James alleged that the e-cigarette company targeted middle and high school students in New York using “colorful ads featuring young models and flashing parties in New York City and the Hamptons, all while downplaying the harmful effects of vaping.”

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb claimed JUUL’s “online verification systems were riddled with flaws and loopholes that allow kids of any age to purchase the products it knew but did not care,” and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Cambell said JUUL’s “targeting of young people rolled back decades of progress in combating underage tobacco and nicotine use and has led to a nationwide public health crisis for young people all across this country.”

Juul said the settlement marks nearly “total resolution of the company’s historical legal challenges.”

“With this settlement, we are nearing total resolution of the company’s historical legal challenges and securing certainty for our future. We have now settled with 47 states and territories, providing over $1 billion to participating states, in addition to our global resolution of the U.S. private litigation. Since our company-wide reset in the fall of 2019, underage use of JUUL products has declined by 95% based on the National Youth Tobacco Survey,” a spokesperson for JUUL told ABC News.

“Now we are positioned to dedicate even greater focus on our path forward to maximize the value and impact of our product technology and scientific foundation,” the spokesperson continued, noting its priorities are “to secure authorization of our PMTAs based on the science and lead the category with innovation to accelerate our mission and advance tobacco harm reduction for over 31 million adult smokers in the U.S. and over 1 billion adult smokers worldwide.”

In D.C., JUUL’s $15.2 million settlement is the largest litigated settlement negotiated under the Consumer Protection Procedures Act, according to Schwalb. At least half of the settlement from Juul, which “marketed nicotine products to District youth and misled District consumers about the product’s highly-addictive qualities,” will be aimed at mitigating public health damages that JUUL caused, the attorney general says. Under the agreement, “JUUL must abide by strict advertising restrictions that prevent it from engaging in harmful marketing practices in the future.”

Many of the funds acquired in the settlement will be aimed at education to lessen the effect of JUUL’s vaping in the next generation. James told ABC News that her state’s $112 million will be used to “help government agencies and educational organizations to prevent young vaping to support community and school based anti vaping programs to help individuals quit vaping to help localities and counties enforce vaping laws and regulations and monitor and research efforts to read to reduce vaping.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Consumer prices rose 5% last month compared to a year ago, extending a months-long slowdown of price increases as the Federal Reserve aims to bring inflation down to normal levels without pushing the U.S. into a recession, government data on Wednesday showed.

The fresh data showed the lowest year-over-year inflation rate since May 2021.

In February, year-over-year inflation was 6%. The data released on Wednesday marked the ninth consecutive month of smaller price hikes.

Prices showed a monthly gain of 0.1%, complicating a smooth downward path to normal price levels.

Despite an overall cooling of inflation, price hikes for some grocery store staples remain well above the average rate.

The price of flour jumped more than 17% over the past year, while the cost of eggs spiked 36% over that time, government data showed.

Since last year, the cost of margarine has leapt 33% and prices for cookies have surged more than 16%.

Some prices, however, have fallen over the past year, offering some relief for buyers.

Gas prices dropped 17% over the past year, government data showed, while television prices fell 14% over the period.

The data release arrives less than a month after the Federal Reserve imposed the latest in an aggressive string of borrowing cost increases, despite concern that previous rate increases helped trigger the nation’s banking crisis.

Inflation has fallen significantly from a summer peak, though it remains more than double the Fed’s target of 2%.

The rapid rise in interest rates, however, tanked the value of bonds held by Silicon Valley Bank, precipitating its failure and cascading damage for the financial sector.

With an aggressive string of rate hikes last seen in the 1980s, the Fed aims to slash price hikes by slowing the economy and choking off demand. The approach, however, risks tipping the U.S. economy into a recession.

Mounting evidence suggests rate hikes have slowed economic activity.

Nearly 190 banks are at risk of collapse amid high interest rates and declining asset values, according to a study released by a team of university researchers last month.

Meanwhile, the U.S. added 236,000 jobs in March, which marks robust job growth but a reduction from an average of 334,000 jobs added each month over the previous six months, according to government data released on Friday.

The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday that it expects the U.S. economy to expand by 1.6% this year, which would prove a slowdown from 2.1% growth in gross domestic product last year.

Still, some key areas of the economy have proven resilient, despite the rate hikes.

Existing-home sales spiked 14.5% in February, ending a 12-month streak of declines and recording the largest monthly percentage increases in nearly two years, National Association of Realtors data showed.

Meanwhile, U.S. retail sales fell moderately in February but remained solid, suggesting that households still retain some pandemic-era savings.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Investors and consumers on Wednesday will closely watch the release of fresh inflation data, which will show whether price increases continued a months-long slowdown in March.

The data release arrives less than a month after the Federal Reserve imposed the latest in a string of borrowing cost increases, despite concern that previous rate increases helped trigger the nation’s banking crisis.

Consumer prices rose 6% in February compared to a year ago, marking the eighth consecutive month of smaller price hikes, government data showed.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect consumer prices to have risen 5.1% in March compared to a year ago, which would mark the lowest reading in almost two years.

However, the economists also forecast that consumer prices will show a monthly gain of 0.4%, complicating a smooth downward path to normal price levels.

Inflation has fallen significantly from a summer peak, though it remains triple the Fed’s target of 2%.

The rapid rise in interest rates, however, tanked the value of bonds held by Silicon Valley Bank, precipitating its failure and cascading damage for the financial sector.

With an aggressive string of rate hikes last seen in the 1980s, the Fed aims to slash price hikes by slowing the economy and choking off demand. The approach, however, risks tipping the U.S. economy into a recession.

Mounting evidence suggests rate hikes have slowed the economy.

Nearly 190 banks are at risk of collapse amid high interest rates and declining asset values, according to a study released by a team of university researchers last month.

Meanwhile, the U.S. added 236,000 jobs in March, which marks robust job growth but a reduction from an average of 334,000 jobs added each month over the previous six months, according to government data released on Friday.

The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday that it expects the U.S. economy to expand by 1.6% this year, which would prove a slowdown from 2.1% growth in gross domestic product last year.

Still, some key areas of the economy have proven resilient, despite the rate hikes.

Existing-home sales spiked 14.5% in February, ending a 12-month streak of declines and recording the largest monthly percentage increases in nearly two years, National Association of Realtors data showed.

Meanwhile, U.S. retail sales fell moderately in February but remained solid, suggesting that households still retain some pandemic-era savings.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A New Jersey mom is speaking out after she claims United Airlines staff refused to accommodate her son’s “life-threatening” peanut allergy during a recent flight.

Lianne Mandelbaum said she, her husband and their son Josh were traveling home on March 13 from Texas, where they had been visiting a college, when she said she approached a flight attendant to notify them of her son’s allergy.

“I went up to speak to the flight attendant and I said, ‘My son has a life-threatening peanut allergy. I would appreciate it if you could just tell the surrounding rows to be careful,'” the mom of three recalled to ABC News’ Good Morning America.

Mandelbaum, who also runs the food allergy advocacy nonprofit No Nut Traveler, said she’d made similar requests before. During their initial flight to Texas a couple of days earlier, she had a positive experience, which she shared on Twitter, with other United staffers who accommodated her request to alert neighboring passengers of Josh’s allergy.

“I wasn’t expecting any pushback on the flight on the way home. In fact, I was approaching it with a very optimistic view and the opposite happened,” Mandelbaum said.

Instead of addressing her concern and request, Mandelbaum claimed another United staffer, who she said stated they were a supervisor, allegedly summoned her before the flight takeoff and responded rudely.

“I went to go pull up [United’s] policy on my phone and she literally put her hand in my face like this and got close and she goes, ‘I don’t care what you’re going to say or what you’re going to show me. I’m telling you, this is not going to happen on this plane. So what are you going to do about it now?’ And at that point, I really did feel threatened that she was going to kick me off,” Mandelbaum claimed.

She said she and her son felt embarrassed and her son asked her to let the request go after she returned to her seat, but the alleged experience stayed with her and prompted her to pay for Wi-Fi on board and tweet about it after the flight took off.

When contacted by GMA, United said it is “looking into this incident” and shared its allergy policy, which is also posted on its website. The policy states that the airline “is committed to the safety of its customers, including customers with major food allergies” and does not serve peanuts on flights but may serve food that could include allergens.

United also says in its policy that it cannot guarantee an “allergen-free” environment or prohibit passengers from eating food brought onboard that can contain allergens like peanuts, but that customers can request “an allergy buffer zone” that includes notifying other passengers “seated nearby to refrain from eating any allergen-containing products they may have brought on board.”

Following her flight, Mandelbaum filed an official U.S. Department of Transportation complaint against United on March 20 with her attorney Mary C. Vargas. The complaint, a copy of which GMA was able to obtain, claims Mandelbaum “was subjected to denial of accommodation, humiliation, retaliation, and intimidation because she disclosed her son’s food allergies and requested accommodation” and alleges United violated the Air Carrier Access Act and Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights.

Mandelbaum’s complaint also claims her alleged experience and others like it suggest “a pattern or practice of discriminatory treatment of passengers with food allergies and those who advocate on their behalf.” She is seeking a finding that United violated disability discrimination laws, a fine and mandatory training for employees.

GMA also obtained a copy of the response that United filed after Mandelbaum’s complaint, which acknowledged in part that Mandelbaum spoke with at least two United staffers and “requested that other passengers be informed that her son had a peanut allergy.” The airline, in its response, has disputed some of the alleged facts and “denies that the Mandelbaum family was subjected to ‘discriminatory treatment’ or that there is a ‘pattern or practice of discriminatory treatment of passengers with food allergies and those who advocate on their behalf.'”

Since opening up about her varying experiences while flying with her son on United, Mandelbaum said she has received some online threats and negative feedback, including one message that called her a “selfish person.” She said the dismissive responses haven’t deterred her from opening up, adding that experiences like this one have fueled her advocacy work for the last decade.

“I’m trying to model for [my son] so that when he is an adult flying without us and going back and forth to college, that he models my behavior and he asks for things that are going to keep him safe. There’s no reason why his food allergy should stand in the way of him achieving any of his goals,” Mandelbaum said.

“Despite what people say on social media, it’s not really suffering to go without your favorite snack for a couple hours or just be careful around someone who’s asked you politely. I mean, what kind of world are we living in where we can’t help someone that has a different health risk than we do? It’s just, it’s really upsetting,” she added.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A staple in many American kitchens could soon be coming to an end.

Tupperware, which has been in American homes for more than 75 years, is now saying it could soon go out of business.

The news sent stock prices plummeting nearly 50% on Monday.

Analysts say the brand has struggled to connect with younger consumers.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.) — Thousands of academic workers at Rutgers University, including professors and graduate student workers, launched a strike on Monday, picketing outside of campus buildings and urging colleagues to forego teaching classes.

The strike marks the first in the university’s nearly 257-year history, according to a group of unions representing the workers.

Contract negotiations began nearly one year ago for some 9,000 workers represented by three unions participating in the strike, the unions said.

The unions are seeking salary increases that keep up with inflation, a $15 minimum wage for campus workers, longer contracts for non-tenured faculty, five years of guaranteed funding for graduate students and a new set of standards for racial and gender equity, among other demands.

Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway voiced dissatisfaction on Sunday in response to the impending strike.

“To say that this is deeply disappointing would be an understatement,” Holloway said in a letter posted online. “We have all been hard at work trying to resolve issues around compensation, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment.”

The disruption of classes at Rutgers University, where 67,000 students study, prompted New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, to call for a “productive dialogue” between the university and workers in his office on Monday.

In one of several protests on Monday morning, 50 faculty, graduate and undergraduate students marched in a picket line outside of the student center on the Rutgers University satellite campus in Livingston, New Jersey, Sebastian León, an assistant professor of Latino and Caribbean Studies and Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, told ABC News.

The picketing amounts to “a full-time job from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on every campus across multiple shifts,” León said, noting workers’ plans to supply protesters with food, water bottles, safety gear and sunscreen.

“We hope that the strike produces extra impetus to settle a fair and a reasonable contract,” he added.

León, who began teaching at Rutgers University in 2018, said he supports the strike because the workers’ contract proposal aims to break down a “pretty messed up hierarchy” between full-time faculty, adjunct professors and graduate students.

“I’ve been an adjunct where you’re basically sub-human – your opinion and professional views don’t count,” he said. “You’re lucky to have your own office and place to store your papers.”

The university has offered to raise the minimum salary for postdoctoral fellows and associates in the faculty union by more than 20% over the contract period, Holloway said in a statement on Sunday.

“Significant and substantial progress has been made, as I have noted, and I believe that there are only a few outstanding issues,” Holloway added. “We will, of course, negotiate for as long as it takes.”

León said he had heard of some faculty opting to teach on Monday, despite the strike. However, he said the workers participating in the strike understand that the protest could last several days or longer.

“This is a full-time organizing job that we’ll be doing as long as it takes,” he said. “We’re not asking for new iPads or brand new buildings or a second car.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As young professionals navigate the workforce with an emphasis on valuing self-care and work-life balance, behavioral trends like “quiet quitting” and pushes for a four-day workweek have emerged. Now, the latest career trend to take hold of the internet is “Bare Minimum Mondays.”

“I think what I’m seeing at least is a trend that started with quiet quitting. Now we’ve got Monday’s bare minimum Mondays and a big, a big push towards a four-day workweek. It clearly is an indication that people are burned out and trying to find ways to re-energize themselves while doing the things they have to do to get a paycheck,” Tessa White, a career expert, told ABC News’ Good Morning America.

The term “Bare Minimum Mondays” was coined by TikTok content creator Maris Mayes, who said the idea is to ease into the work week by prioritizing self-care over productivity on Mondays.

The #BareMinimumMondays hashtag has racked up more than two million views.

Physical therapist Logan Lynch decided to take Mayes’ advice and said she no longer takes patients on Mondays.

“I’m very familiar with hustle culture and the grind and doing everything all the time. So to have a mindset, to have a system to kind of give yourself a break, I really resonated with that,” Lynch told Good Morning America.

Lynch said the new parameters actually increase her productivity.

“I have been trying to put into place boundaries around my work and knowing that it’s OK to take a little extra rest time,” Lynch said.

Mother and entrepreneur Juliana Walker said that the Bare Minimum Mondays strategy has helped her be more intentional with her time.

“I started getting migraines on Mondays and I was overworking myself and bringing myself up into the ground,” the mother of one told Good Morning America. “So that’s when I started scheduling doctors’ appointments, haircuts, getting my nails done.”

According to a Gallup poll from November, 68% of Gen Z and millennials reported feeling more stressed overall compared to their older counterparts and 54% of young workers reported they were also less engaged at work than their senior co-workers.

With the pandemic blurring the lines between work and home, younger workers are setting more boundaries between their professional and personal lives. White said whether you like it or not, younger workers “rebelling” against traditional career structures have already redefined employer relationships.

“They’re insisting on work-life balance and insisting that mental health is important as a result of where they’re at in this generation,” she said. “They don’t have a lot to lose by actually laying it out on the line and saying, ‘I really want to have a better experience at work.'”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The place where dreams come true is making magic for Disney theme park fans who have asked about Walt Disney World Annual Passes.

“New sales of the Disney Incredi-Pass, Disney Sorcerer Pass and Disney Pirate Pass will resume and can be purchased online beginning on April 20,” Disney Parks announced on its blog Thursday.

At launch, the number of passes will be limited and passes — or a pass type — “may become unavailable for purchase at any time,” which the release explained is subject to the Walt Disney World Resort Annual Pass Terms and Conditions.

Starting April 13, eligible Disney Vacation Club members will also have the opportunity to purchase the DVC Disney Sorcerer Pass online as part of their Membership Magic benefits.

“We are so grateful for our Passholders who have a deep, strong connection to Walt Disney World, and we are looking forward to welcoming more of you to the Annual Passholder family, just in time to experience the feelings of a Disney Thrill this spring and summer,” Senior Manager of Communications Eric Scott wrote.

For non-Florida residents and non-Disney Vacation Club members, only the Disney Incredi-Pass will be available for purchase.

The Walt Disney World Annual Passholder program incorporated feedback to make new changes, like adding access to select Disney PhotoPass benefits and the ability for passholders to visit the theme parks after 2 p.m. without a reservation — except Saturdays and Sundays at Magic Kingdom Park.

The updates are intended to help passholders enjoy the new Walt Disney World experiences, such as the return of the “Happily Ever After” nighttime spectacular; the world’s first Toy Story-themed table-service restaurant, Roundup Rodeo BBQ; and the new Journey of Water —  inspired by “Moana” — coming to Epcot later this year. Disney’s Animal Kingdom is also celebrating its 25th anniversary throughout April.

Annual pass sales were halted in November 2021 as the park looked to manage crowds amid the pandemic.

Current Annual Passholders can check for news and updates in The Passholder Buzz section of the My Disney Experience app.

Read more about renewal and pass upgrade options and other terms and conditions online here.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News and “Good Morning America.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Electric bikes have made headlines for the dramatic leap in sales of the devices during the pandemic. However, they’ve also drawn notoriety for occasionally sparking deadly fires.

The U.S. e-bike market grew 269% between 2019 and 2022, with $885.5 million in sales last year, according to market research firm Circana. Sales of e-bikes — which are much pricier than traditional bicycles — outperformed the overall bike market in 2022 in terms of sales growth, growing 14% while total bike sales declined by 12%, according to Circana.

“There was a lot of interest in riding, and we’ve actually seen that interest and rider participation continue as we move out of the height of the pandemic,” Ash Lovell, electric bicycle policy and campaign director for the advocacy group PeopleForBikes, told ABC News. “We want to keep them riding and we want to give them more opportunities and more places to ride.”

As interest in e-bikes has grown as an eco-friendly means for travel and hauling cargo, so have ways to make them more accessible. At the city and state levels, governments are finding ways to make e-bikes more affordable through incentive programs. Building off those local efforts, federal lawmakers recently reintroduced a bill that would give consumers a tax break on the purchase of a new e-bike. The Electric Bicycle Incentive Kickstart for the Environment Act would offer a refundable tax credit amounting to 30% of the e-bike’s price, capped at $1,500.

Other legislation has been aimed at safety. Last month, New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed a package of e-bike safety legislation that also sets new standards for e-mobility devices such as e-bikes, including that any micro-mobility device meets standards set by UL Solutions, an industry leader in battery technology. The move came after New York saw 219 fires related to e-bikes in 2022, causing 147 injuries and six deaths.

“This is a real issue and it could jeopardize the safety of you or your family,” Adams recently told “Good Morning America.” “We must educate people.”

If new to e-bikes, here’s what to know.

Are e-bikes safe? Role of battery certification
Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are found in everyday items, from cellphones to laptops, as well as e-mobility devices like e-bikes and e-scooters. Though generally safe, they carry with them a fire risk if abused or not high-quality.

“There’s a lot of energy being condensed into a very small battery,” Steve Kerber, vice president and executive director of UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute, which performs testing and research around fire safety risks, including hazards associated with lithium-ion batteries, told ABC News.

Uncertified batteries are one of the factors that impact the likelihood of a lithium-ion battery failure, according to the institute. A major component of certification criteria is making sure the battery management system is sending the right signals to tell the battery to stop charging. A faulty system could lead to what’s known as a thermal runaway, causing a battery to overheat and possibly explode.

“If you go to purchase an e-bike, you should be able to get one that’s certified by a nationally recognized testing lab,” Kerber said.

Can you pedal? Understanding e-bike classes
Anyone looking to buy an e-bike should also familiarize themselves with the three-class system for electric bikes, which has been adopted by 40 states, Lovell said.

“It really defines what an electric bicycle is and what it isn’t,” Lovell said.

Typically, class 1, the most common type of e-bike, means an e-bike where the motor is engaged by pedaling — or pedal-assist — and can provide assistance up to 20 mph; class 2 means an e-bike where the motor can be engaged through a throttle and can assist up to 20 mph without pedaling; and class 3 means a pedal-assist e-bike where the motor can provide assistance up to 28 mph.

E-bikes typically start around $1,000, while a more high-end model could cost upward of $12,000. Lovell recommends trying out different models before purchasing.

“There’s actually inventory now — there wasn’t during a lot of the pandemic,” Lovell said. “So this is a really good time to try out a few models to figure out which one works right for you.”

Best e-bike battery practices
Rare, but at times deadly, fires due to e-bikes have helped raise awareness about best practices, particularly in New York City, Kerber said. Though elsewhere “we’ve got a bigger lift,” he said.

“We need to make sure that people hear this message before the incidents are happening,” Kerber said. “We need to learn from the failures that are happening so we don’t repeat those and a lot of times it does come down to public education. It comes down to people being smart with their devices and knowing what to look for — whether it’s cellphones, laptops, tablets, scooters — I mean everything has lithium-ion batteries in it now.”

E-bike users should read their instruction manual to ensure they are following best practices for charging and storing their device, Kerber said.

In addition to uncertified batteries, other factors that increase the likelihood of battery failure include battery abuse, modifications and mismatched parts — such as using a charger that is incompatible with the battery — according to UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute. If the battery and charging cord are incompatible, the battery could overcharge and lead to a “pretty catastrophic failure and thermal runaway,” Kerber said.

Among other best practices, people should avoid charging their e-bike when they’re asleep and not charge it in a path of escape, Kerber said. They should also keep the battery at room temperature and not tinker with the battery system themselves. An odor, changing color, leak or weird noises are all signs to “get out of your house” and call 911 to have the fire department investigate, Kerber said.

Lithium-ion batteries — whether in e-bikes or other devices — also need to be recycled properly.

“You can’t throw them away,” Kerber said. “We’ve seen a number of garbage truck fires … because people will just throw some of these things in the trash.”

E-bike rider restrictions, safety and etiquette
When considering an e-bike, it will be helpful to know where you are allowed to ride it in your state.

“It’s up to local municipalities to determine if they are open to having e-bikes on their trails and multi-use paths,” Lovell said.

States may have other restrictions on e-bike usage, such as age minimums.

Riders, especially first-time cyclists, should brush up on biking etiquette and safety, such as how to ride with a group, said Lovell.

“What we found during the pandemic is that a lot of people who are riding and ordering electric bicycles haven’t ridden a traditional bike before,” Lovell said. “So they don’t really have the education or the etiquette training on here’s how you signal, here’s what you should do in a crowded multi-use path, how’s how to store your bike, here’s when you should take it in to be serviced.”

Given the continued interest in e-bikes, PeopleForBikes and the League of American Bicyclists plan to launch an e-bike rider-specific safety curriculum in July that will feature guidance on “responsible e-bike ownership,” including roadway positioning, sharing the trail, riding predictably and other safe practices.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SAN FRANCISCO) — Bob Lee, Cash App founder and current executive at cryptocurrency firm MobileCoin, has died, the company told ABC News. He was 43 years old.

A longtime tech executive, Lee was the first chief technology officer at Square, a digital payment company founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

“Bob was a dynamo, a force of nature,” Joshua Goldbard, the CEO of MobileCoin, told ABC News in a statement.

“He was made for the world that is being born right now, he was a child of dreams, and whatever he imagined, no matter how crazy, he made real,” Goldbard added.

During the 2000s, Lee worked at Google, where he helped develop Android.

Cash App and the San Francisco Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lee is survived by his wife, Krista, and their two children.

“Bob’s real resume is the hearts and minds he touched in his time on earth,” Goldbarb said. “Bob’s legacy is the feeling that you can make a difference if you try, and of course his amazing children.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.