Even if you can afford it, you've got to ask for it, if you're in the tech field. A professional basketball player, and probably also a coach, is going to have their physical health watched over, whether they take the initiative or not. Wealthy people in many other fields are free to go to the doctor as rarely or as often as they want.
That said I think his wife probably made sure he got good access to healthcare, if he didn't take the initiative himself. But it probably is somewhere between every three months and every year. Major sports players, top celebrities or Paul Atreides have the level of access that make it extremely rare, but a well connected tech executive just has a level of access that reduces the risk somewhat.
>>> Even if you can afford it, you've got to ask for it.
This. A thousand times.
So many people in the valley just lose track of time, or they put their health on the back burner for just one more month, or miss that yearly physical, and then suddenly it catches up with them.
Saying he was a proponent of work life balance does not mean his job was a walk in the park either. You're in one of the most competitive markets, with a successful startup. I can easily see why executives at his lever would start to cut corners on their health.
It's too bad really. He sounds like one of the guys you would really root for to be successful. At the very least, I'm glad he was able to achieve some of his dreams - something a large portion of the population never get a chance at.
If anything it should remind everybody. Take a break, call your family and tell them you love them, hug your kids and tell them you love them. You never know man, you just never know when your time is going to be up.
That said I think his wife probably made sure he got good access to healthcare, if he didn't take the initiative himself. But it probably is somewhere between every three months and every year. Major sports players, top celebrities or Paul Atreides have the level of access that make it extremely rare, but a well connected tech executive just has a level of access that reduces the risk somewhat.