Ebbe Altberg, the CEO of Second Life creator and developer Linden Lab, has passed away.
The Linden Lab team shared the news on the Second Life community forum, and praised Altberg for ushering in a culture of “profound openness and transparency” during his tenure.
Altberg was appointed CEO of Linden Lab in February 2014, and prior to that worked at a range of high-profile technology companies including BranchOut, Yahoo!, and Microsoft.
The Linden Lab team explained that, under his leadership, employees were encouraged to engage with the Second Life community and “cherish” the platform. They added that Altberg also “worked internally on embracing all aspects of Second Life” to help cement its place as a leading virtual world, community, and platform.
“He took the helm of the company and immediately went to work on reinvigorating our spirit and culture,” reads the obituary posted by the Linden Lab team. “Ebbe brought a profound openness, and transparency in his operation which was key and that had many effects on all of us internally, and externally. Rest in peace Ebbe, our fearless, kind, loving, gentle leader, and friend.”
Other friends and colleagues have also shared their memories of Altberg, with Linden Lab founder and former CEO Philip Rosedale sending in a tribute to the New World Notes blog.
“I can’t say enough about Ebbe,” wrote Rosedale. “He was such a warm, smart, optimistic person who was loved by everyone he came into contact with. I will miss him a lot, and we were so lucky to have him.”