Adam Robinson’s April reflection on choosing family over grueling work hours has drawn fresh attention after the tech entrepreneur died with his wife and two young children in a Florida plane crash.
Robinson, 45, founded RB2B and Retention.com, where he served as CEO. He is believed to have had a net worth of approximately $6 million at the time of his death. He was traveling with his wife, Helen Sharp, their four-year-old daughter Emma, and their two-year-old son Charlie, along with the family’s nanny, Anita Maria Cetina. Another couple, Rachael Reed and Charmi Fehr, were also on board. The group was reportedly headed to the Bahamas to celebrate Robinson’s birthday when the Learjet 60 went down in South Florida on November 1.
Pilot Jeff Gregory, 55, and co-pilot Nathalia Gadelha Filgueira, 20, also died in the crash. Filgueira had earned her license while still in high school. All nine people on board were killed.
The National Transportation Safety Board provided an update on November 2, stating there was “some indication that the aircraft was breaking up before impact.” The plane had been cruising east at 35,000 feet when trouble began.
Air traffic control recordings captured by LiveATC.net reveal the pilot first reported manageable conditions. “We have light, clear ice that is manageable and moderate turbulence,” Gregory told controllers.
The situation escalated rapidly. The pilot requested clearance to climb another 2,000 feet, then declared an emergency as the jet began losing altitude at a catastrophic rate.
“We’re descending 8,000 — mayday, mayday — we’re descending 10,000 feet per minute,” Gregory was heard saying in the harrowing audio.
“We are in an overspeed condition descending 20,000 feet per minute,” he continued before delivering a devastating acknowledgment of what was about to happen. “We’re going to crash into the ground.”
The plane banked sharply to the right before crashing and exploding.
Robinson’s social media presence has taken on new meaning in the wake of the tragedy. In an April post on X, he described his early career on Wall Street and the long hours culture he observed among colleagues his current age.
“In my 20’s, I used to work on Wall Street,” his post began. “People my age now (45) said they were working 70, 80, 90 hours a week for their families… but all their families actually wanted was their presence.”
Robinson wrote that these colleagues failed to understand why their families resented their absence despite material comforts. “They didn’t understand why their families resented how much they worked when they lived in a nice house, and their kids went to private schools. It was just the world we all lived in. We knew nothing else.”
He added that he made a deliberate choice early in his startup journey to prioritize boundaries. “I decided early in my startup journey that wasn’t going to be me. My co-founders and I have always had a policy of quitting at 5 or 5:30.”
Robinson framed this balance as mutually sustaining rather than competitive. “My family life gives me energy for my work,” the businessman went on. “My work gives me energy for my family life.”
The crash occurred after the pilot reported ice accumulation and severe turbulence jolting the aircraft by as much as 700 feet. The investigation into what caused the breakup indicated by the NTSB remains ongoing.