Sheryl Sandberg’s Late Husband Dave Goldberg Remembered by Adam Grant

Adam Grant the author and Wharton professor recently shared an essay in a LinkedIn op-ed on Sunday paying tribute to Dave Goldberg.

Grant was a good friend of Goldberg and described Goldberg as person goodness was more moving than his greatness. Dave Goldberg died due to head trauma at 47 years of age in an exercise accident. Goldberg starts the essay stating how Goldberg had many passions in his life which included his family, his work and even the Minnesota Vikings.

Grant remembers a game night where the Vikings were losing by a far margin but rather than shouting or losing interest Dave stood by his team and cheered them consistently till the end. The simple gesture showed   how larger than life Dave really was.

Grant has previously co-authored several essays with Sheryl Sandberg the wife of the late Dave Goldberg on women’s workplace. Grant further described Dave as his wife Sheryl’s biggest fan and cheered for her more passionately than his team the Vikings.

When Sheryl wrote the book ‘Lean In’ she did not want to place her picture on the cover or share her own stories as she felt the book was supposed to be about progress and not her. Dave on the other hand convinced Sheryl to be the face of the cause as he realized the movement needed a human champion and encouraged Sheryl to go for it. 

According to Grant, Dave was a great boss and recruited people who genuinely cared about other people, and all of his employees wanted to be like him. Grant claims Dave never met him with a simple handshake but always gave him a hug. The month before his demise when Grant last met Dave he was full of excitement for the Len In Together campaign and he always inspired us to be better human beings.