Ray Shaw, chairman of the company that owns the San Jose/Silicon Valley Business Journal and San Francisco Business Times, has died in Charlotte, N.C., from complications from an insect sting. He was 75.

The Business Journals say he was stung by a bee while the AP reports it was a yellow jacket.

“Whitney Shaw (one of Ray’s sons) said his father had been working in his garage early Saturday when he was stung by a yellow jacket and collapsed. He said his father was revived, but died Sunday morning,” AP reported.

The following is from his obit in the San Jose Business Journal:

Shaw grew ACBJ [American City Business Journals] from an operation with 21 business weeklies when he bought it in 1989 into a company that today has 40 business weeklies, an online publishing division and a host of other publications, including The Sporting News, Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal, NASCAR Scene and the Hemmings automobile guide.

He was good at understanding what people were passionate about, Whitney Shaw said, and was able to develop products that catered to those passions.

“Whether it was sports, or business, or cars, it didn’t matter — he was playing to that enthusiast audience,” he said.

Whitney Shaw said one of the keys to understanding his father was that he was first and foremost a journalist. “He could (succeed) in advertising and circulation, but he never stopped being a journalist, he was always a reporter and editor first.”

Ray Shaw’s accomplishments in business journalism were honored earlier this year, when he was given the 19th Distinguished Achievement Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.

“Ray was an extremely generous individual who took great pride in the business and his employees,” Silicon Valley/ San Jose Publisher James MacGregor said.

“I had the greatest respect for the way Ray ran the company, which was to build an ethical business. He had a long-term approach to running the company even during challenging times,” MacGregor said, “and it was very important to him that he took care of his employees.”