Robinson Family Killed in South Florida Learjet Crash
Email marketing founder Adam Robinson, his wife and two young children died when their private jet crashed shortly after takeoff near Mar-a-Lago.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Accidents
Adam Robinson, his wife Helen Sharp, and their children Emma, 4, and Charlie, 2, were killed in the crash of a Learjet bound for the Bahamas with nine people aboard. Robinson co-founded Robly, an email marketing platform, and later founded Retention.com.
Why it matters
The deaths remove a founder known for building a bootstrapped email marketing business without venture capital, and they raise questions about private aviation safety in the state. Robinson's work on capturing visitor email addresses without contact forms also drew attention across the e-commerce marketing industry.
Nine people were aboard the Learjet bound for the Bahamas when it crashed in South Florida, and the cause of the crash has not been stated. Investigators have not yet identified a cause in the reporting available.
The players
Adam Robinson
Robinson was an entrepreneur who co-founded the email marketing platform Robly and later founded Retention.com, a firm connecting e-commerce website visitors to their email addresses.
Retention.com
Retention.com is an e-commerce marketing firm that connects website visitors to their email addresses, reaching approximately $23 million in annual recurring revenue.
The details
The Learjet was en route to the Bahamas when it went down near Mar-a-Lago in South Florida. Robinson had spun off a feature from Robly called Robly ID to identify email addresses of website visitors who did not fill out contact forms, later building it into Retention.com.
Timeline
November 2019: Retention.com product launched.
2021: Robly was sold.
2024: Robinson revealed the Robly sale in an interview.
November 3, 2026: Plane crash reported.
Market Landscape
Robinson built Robly without venture capital and sold it in 2021, then used a spun-off feature to launch Retention.com, which captures visitor emails that competing platforms did not address. The deaths end the tenure of a founder whose bootstrapped approach carved a niche in the crowded email marketing sector.
Residents near the South Florida crash area and frequent flyers using private aviation out of the region may see heightened attention to aircraft safety. The crash highlights the importance of verifying safety records and maintenance histories for private charter flights.
The takeaway
Business owners who collect visitor data should review how they capture contact information and comply with privacy rules. Robinson's approach shows that tools addressing gaps left by larger platforms can build meaningful recurring revenue.
Further reading
For more on incidents like this, browse Accidents coverage across Florida.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Economic Times.
