India, May 20 -- Indian-origin tech veteran S "Soma" Somasegar, a former Microsoft executive and managing director at Madrona Venture Group , has died at the age of 59. The news was confirmed on Tuesday by Madrona, a Seattle-based venture capital firm, where Somasegar had worked for the past 11 years.

"We are heartbroken to share that our dear friend and colleague Soma Somasegar passed away unexpectedly earlier today," Madrona said in a statement.

"There is no way to adequately describe Soma's brilliance and generous spirit. He was unique at every level and raised the bar on what we expected of ourselves professionally and, more importantly, personally," the firm added.

The cause of death has not been publicly disclosed.

Tributes pour...