- Square cofounder Tristan O’Tierney died Feb. 23 at age 35 from causes relating to addiction, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
- O’Tierney, who worked at Square from 2009 to 2013, built the original iPhone app at Square, the mobile payments company.
- In the last years of his life, he pursued photography as a hobby and for work, traveling around the world and sharing his work on Instagram.
- Here’s what people are saying on Twitter.
Square co-founder Tristan O’Tierney, who develop Square’s original mobile payment app, passed away Feb. 23 in Ocala, Florida at age 35, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
O’Tierney joined Square in February 2009 and built the original iPhone app as the head developer. He was the third co-founder of Square alongside Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey. Prior to that, O’Tierney had worked at companies like VMware, Apple, and Yahoo. O’Tierney left Square in June 2013.
Since leaving Square, he has done freelancing app development, worked as Director of Mobile for Voteraide, and pursued photography. He spent time traveling and doing photography both as a hobby and as a freelancer.
O’Tierney’s family told the San Francisco Chronicle that he died from causes relating to addiction, and they are awaiting an official cause of death from officials. He had been battling addiction for three years and was in a three-month rehabilitation program in Ocala, his mother Pamela Tierney told the Chronicle. O’Tierney had previously shared some of his struggles with addiction on social media.
A memorial service for O'Tierney will take place in San Francisco in the next two to three weeks.
Read more: Meet The Most Important People Working At Silicon Valley's Next Red-Hot Startup
As an avid photographer, O'Tierney often posted his work on Instagram. Below is O'Tierney's last image he posted on his Instagram account, taken in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
http://instagr.am/p/BuAXbIHndkL
Here's what people have been saying on Twitter.
This past week has been tough. @Tristan was a great mentor and friend to me in college, a super smart engineer who helped cofound Square, and had a sharp eye for design and as a photographer. Rest in peace, buddy. https://t.co/cjKF1aXeJv
— Steve Streza 🏳️🌈 (@SteveStreza) March 1, 2019
Met @tristan once. Had no idea who he was. Took me on a photo trip where he taught me even small cameras can take great photos. A gentle giant. pic.twitter.com/sSn6ax7p48
— 𝕞𝕒𝕩𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕥𝕒𝕣 (@maxvoltar) March 1, 2019
https://twitter.com/sobossme/status/1101555066157305858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
So sad to hear about the passing. During my last WWDC trip in 2013, I met @tristan at @AltConference and fortunately had a chance to ask him for advices. I still remember those words. Thank you. https://t.co/EreSFBtw9w
— Richard Lee (@dlackty) March 1, 2019
I met @Tristan when he was traveling around Asia after leaving Square — Square was headed to IPO then and he had so much to live for... so sad - RIP https://t.co/iZX0m7Qthv
— Jon Russell (@jonrussell) March 1, 2019
A little bit of @tristan frozen in time on my original iPhone. Learnt so much from him building Twinkle together. Too young, too kind, and too talented to be gone so soon. RIP pic.twitter.com/v8AdPeDR5b
— Layton Duncan (@PolarBearFarm) February 28, 2019
I am deeply saddened by the passing of my friend @Tristan. My profile picture was taken by him and is the best photo anyone has ever taken of me. I will miss him dearly.
— Robert Padbury (@padbury) February 28, 2019
Sad to hear about @tristan. Back in the early days of @Square, he invited me to their office in the SF Chronicle building to hook me up with a card reader. He had my app on his phone and showed me how the antialiasing wasn’t quite right. His attention to detail was inspiring. 💔
— Steven Peterson 🏳️🌈 (@squeakytoy) February 28, 2019
https://twitter.com/davidhoang/status/1100996722136776704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Thanks, @tristan. Everyone at Square, and everyone Square’s helped, owes a lot to your work.
— Jerry Lin (@jerrylin) February 28, 2019
Can’t believe @tristan has left us. Privileged to have gotten to work with him. Thank you for everything, dude.
— Kyle has moved to @[email protected] 🏳️🌈 (@kyleve) February 28, 2019
@tristan was a good friend and the ObjC dev community was lucky to know him and work with him. We’re minus one good one.
— Bob Smith (@FriedLemur) February 28, 2019
1/ Incredibly sad to hear that my friend @tristan passed away this weekend.
He was a gifted photographer, engineer (cofounder of @Square and creator of @BarackObama’s first campaign app) and a kind human.
— Tim Wagner (@wagner_tim) February 28, 2019
So saddened to hear of the loss of @tristan. He was an exceptionally kind and gifted human. I will always fondly remember chasing light with you, friend.
— Sebastiaan de With (@sdw) February 27, 2019
https://twitter.com/rsa/status/1100903636937396235?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
I only knew @tristan as a friendly conference peer from early iOS days. He was very friendly and approachable. Sad to hear he is gone. He will be missed by many. https://t.co/20Y41B0iOu
— 🐘 @[email protected] (@zorn) February 27, 2019
What a terrible loss to the world. @tristan was one of the most creative people I knew. He was a great source of advice and encouragement in my early days of iOS development. He will be missed and will live on in his incredible photography. Sorry @mb. https://t.co/xvrzYRkqhs
— shane.stars ✨🔭 | ✧ (@shan3v) February 27, 2019
RIP @tristan. I didn’t know him well, but we hung out a couple times in Portland and SF and shared some great photography chats. I’m no stranger to what we would consider ‘an early death’ but it never seems fair. 😢 https://t.co/AxKjUZORUY
— Justin Miller - @[email protected] (@incanus77) February 27, 2019
https://twitter.com/collindonnell/status/1100855784865316864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Just heard that @tristan died last weekend. He was incredibly kind to @bcapps and I as we were getting our company off the ground. He always made time to check in whenever we were in the same city.
I’ll miss him and the world will miss his photography. https://t.co/TooWDMZYVQ pic.twitter.com/ZNTUq6NCdp
— mb (@mb) February 27, 2019
https://twitter.com/drance/status/1100834772127870981?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/mdznr/status/1100818850273083393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Really sad to hear that. Our paths crossed when we were both Mac Engineers in 2006. I keep really good memories of our discussions with @tristan and @thekarladam. https://t.co/8Xzx7CLWeH
— Jean-Daniel Guyot (@jdguyot) February 27, 2019
https://twitter.com/kinkadius/status/1101690151632281600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw