An Argentine tech CEO sadly fell to his death while hiking on a mountain in California.
Matias Augusto Travizano, who co-founded the software company GranData, was climbing the peak of Mount Shasta when disaster struck.
The entrepreneur, 45, had been based out of San Francisco and reached the 14,162 ft summit while hiking on September 12.
He made his way down the "non-technical" Clear Creek Trail with two strangers he met, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
Mt. Shasta hiker plummets 2,000 feet down glacier to his death https://t.co/NBAjWbn6Fj pic.twitter.com/PlhNKwRAgL
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 20, 2025
But Travizano chose a more complicated path and ended up stuck on the steep and icy Wintun Glacier, 13,500 ft high, with one of the pair we was walking with.
The duo attempted to slide down the path to get to a safer point when the tech CEO suddenly lost control, and crashed down 300 feet before hitting a boulder.
The horrifying ordeal was reported by witnesses to a local sheriff.
Travizano was still alive for ten minutes after the collision, during which time another climber tried to reach him, reported SF Gate.
Matías Travizano, the Argentine physicist and entrepreneur who helped open the doors of Silicon Valley to Milei, died in a climbing accident.
— BowTiedMara (@BowTiedMara) September 14, 2025
He was named in an official statement in May 2024 as a government advisor alongside Demian Reidel, current president of the company that… pic.twitter.com/lj4rJwpFQa
When the CEO gained consciousness, he tried to move again, which tragically led to him slipping and falling even further out of sight, and off another edge.
His body was later recovered at the bottom of the glacier by the California Highway Patrol helicopter unit.
The sheriff's office reported: "While the Clear Creek Route is considered one of the mountain’s 'safer' trails to summit, climbers can become disoriented in low-visibility conditions, particularly when descending from the summit plateau.
"Once off the trail, these climbers often wander into more hazardous areas in the Ash Creek or Mud Creek drainages, where accidents are more likely to occur."
After the sad news broke, support for the CEO flooded in.
One mentee described Travizano as "extremely warm, a great family man, and funny as hell".
He had been named as one of by Argentine President Javier Milei’s government advisers in 2024.
He assisted in the organisation of Milei's first tour of Silicon Valley, where he was pictured alongside Apple President and CEO, Tim Cook.
