The first man of Silicon Valley

OUTSIDE Silicon Valley, few people would have recognised David Goldberg’s name. But millions read about him in “Lean In”, a popular book about how women can do better in the workplace. It was written by his wife, Sheryl Sandberg, the number-two executive at Facebook.

Ms Sandberg writes that the most important career choice a woman makes is whom she marries. A supportive spouse can help you excel; a jealous or lazy one may hold you back. Mr Goldberg, who died on May 1st, was one of the former. He gave his own stellar career (digital-music entrepreneur, Yahoo executive) lower priority than his wife’s even more stellar one. He left a job in Los Angeles to be in the Bay Area, where Ms Sandberg was a rising star at Google. He ran SurveyMonkey, an online-polling firm. When Ms Sandberg was offered a job at Facebook in 2008, he coached her to negotiate for a better pay package.