Top Facebook executive, Sheryl Sandberg, asks for privacy as she mourns the death of her husband.

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Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, announced on behalf of Sheryl Sandberg that her husband, and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Dave Goldberg died suddenly late on Friday night.

The couple was reportedly on vacation abroad and the cause of death was not immediately known.

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Sandberg is one of the most prominent women executives in the technology industry.

"Sheryl is a very strong person and knows we're all thinking of her," Zuckerberg wrote. "She is requesting privacy for now and will update us when she's ready."

Goldberg is known for joining SurveyMonkey in 2009 after he earlier founded an online music startup, Launch Media, which was acquired by Yahoo! in 2001.

"Dave's genius, courage and leadership were overshadowed only by his compassion, friendship and heart," SurveyMonkey said in a statement. "We are all heartbroken."

When the couple married in 2004, Goldberg was the vice president of Yahoo! Music and Sandberg was the vice president at Google.

Sandberg has since become known for her role at Facbeook and for her award-winning book, Lean In, that encourages women to take control of their careers.

The book was dedicated to Goldberg because of his "strong spousal support" in Sandberg pursuing her career.

"Dave is my best friend, closest advisor, dedicated coparent, and the love of my life," Sandberg wrote in the book. "We both knew that my writing this book would come primarily at the expense of our time together, and so writing Lean In was as much his decision as mine. He supported me every step of the way, as he always does, with patience, great insight, humor, and love."

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