David Sacks

David Sacks
Born	David Oliver Sacks 25 5, 1972
Birthplace	Cape Town, South Africa
Nationality	South African-American
Occupation	Template:Hlist
Known for	Co-founder and CEO of Yammer COO of PayPal Co-founder of Craft Ventures White House AI and Crypto Czar
Children	3

David Oliver Sacks (born May 25, 1972) is a South African-born American entrepreneur, investor, author, and government advisor who has played significant roles in several prominent technology companies over a career spanning more than two decades. Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Sacks rose to prominence as the chief operating officer and product leader at PayPal during its formative years, where he was part of the group of early executives and co-founders later known as the "PayPal Mafia." He went on to found Yammer, an enterprise social networking service that was acquired by Microsoft in 2012 for $1.2 billion. In 2017, Sacks co-founded Craft Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund, and his angel investments have included companies such as Facebook, Uber, SpaceX, Palantir Technologies, and Airbnb. A co-host of the All-In podcast alongside Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, and David Friedberg, Sacks became an increasingly visible public figure in technology and political discourse. In December 2024, President Donald Trump named Sacks to the newly created position of White House AI and crypto czar, a role he assumed upon Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2025.

Early Life

David Oliver Sacks was born on May 25, 1972, in Cape Town, South Africa. He grew up in South Africa during the apartheid era before his family emigrated. Sacks moved to the United States, where he would pursue his education and later build his career in the technology industry.

Details about Sacks's childhood and family background in South Africa remain limited in publicly available sources. His trajectory from Cape Town to the American technology industry placed him among a cohort of South African-born entrepreneurs who achieved prominence in Silicon Valley, a group that also includes Elon Musk, who would become a close associate through their shared time at PayPal.

Education

Sacks attended Stanford University, where he studied economics. At Stanford, he was active in campus intellectual life and became involved in the Stanford Review, a conservative student newspaper that had been founded by Peter Thiel in 1987. His involvement with the Stanford Review connected him to Thiel and other future technology leaders, forming relationships that would prove instrumental throughout his career. After Stanford, Sacks attended the University of Chicago Law School, where he earned his Juris Doctor degree. During his time at Chicago, Sacks co-authored a book with Thiel titled The Diversity Myth: Multiculturalism and Political Intolerance on Campus (1995), published by the Independent Institute, which critiqued what the authors characterized as the influence of multiculturalism and political correctness at Stanford.

Career

PayPal (1999–2002)

Sacks joined PayPal in 1999, where he served as the company's chief operating officer (COO) and product leader. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing the company's product development and operational strategy during a period of rapid growth in the online payments sector. PayPal went public in February 2002 and was subsequently acquired by eBay in October 2002 for approximately $1.5 billion.

At PayPal, Sacks worked alongside a group of executives and co-founders who would go on to found or lead numerous other technology companies. This group, which included Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Reid Hoffman, Max Levchin, and others, became collectively known as the "PayPal Mafia" for their outsized subsequent influence on Silicon Valley. Sacks's role as product leader at PayPal is credited with helping shape the platform's user experience and functionality during its critical early growth phase.

Following eBay's acquisition of PayPal, Sacks departed the company and turned his attention to filmmaking and other ventures. He served as a producer on the 2005 comedy film Thank You for Smoking, based on the novel by Christopher Buckley.

Yammer (2008–2012)

In 2008, Sacks founded Yammer, an enterprise social networking platform designed to facilitate internal communication within organizations. The service functioned similarly to social media platforms but was built specifically for workplace use, allowing employees within a company to collaborate, share updates, and communicate in a manner inspired by consumer social networks.

Sacks served as Yammer's founding CEO and guided the company through a period of significant growth. In a 2011 profile, Sacks described his management approach and the company's product development philosophy, emphasizing rapid iteration and responsiveness to user feedback. Under his leadership, Yammer grew to serve over 200,000 companies and attracted significant venture capital funding.

In June 2012, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Yammer for approximately $1.2 billion, representing one of the largest enterprise social networking deals at the time. The acquisition integrated Yammer's technology into Microsoft's broader suite of enterprise products, including Office 365. Sacks remained with the company for a transitional period following the acquisition before departing to pursue other ventures.

Angel Investing

Following his successes at PayPal and Yammer, Sacks became an active angel investor, placing early-stage investments in a number of technology companies that would grow into some of the most valuable firms in the world. His angel investment portfolio included Facebook, Uber, SpaceX, Palantir Technologies, and Airbnb. These investments established Sacks as one of Silicon Valley's most connected and successful individual investors, building on the network of relationships he had cultivated during the PayPal era.

Sacks's investing career was closely intertwined with his connections to the broader PayPal Mafia network. Many of the companies in which he invested were founded or backed by other members of this group, reflecting the overlapping web of financial and professional relationships that characterized Silicon Valley's upper echelons during the 2010s.

Zenefits (2014–2016)

In late 2014, Sacks joined Zenefits, a human resources software startup, as its chief operating officer, also making a significant personal investment in the company. His decision to take on an operational role at Zenefits, rather than remaining solely an investor, was driven by what he described as the opportunity to help scale a fast-growing enterprise software company.

In February 2016, amid revelations of compliance failures and regulatory violations at Zenefits, Sacks was elevated to the role of interim CEO, replacing the company's co-founder Parker Conrad. The company had come under scrutiny for allowing employees to sell insurance without proper state licenses, leading to regulatory investigations across multiple states.

As interim CEO, Sacks undertook a significant restructuring of the company. He oversaw efforts to address compliance deficiencies, reduced the company's workforce, and attempted to refocus Zenefits on its core software products rather than its insurance brokerage operations. In October 2016, Zenefits under Sacks's leadership opened its platform to third-party developers and launched a suite of new HR tools, signaling an effort to reinvent the company's business model.

Sacks discussed the company's turnaround efforts publicly, stating in a Bloomberg interview that the goal was to "close the chapter on compliance issues" and refocus on building enterprise software. Sacks served as interim CEO for approximately ten months before stepping down from the role.

Craft Ventures (2017–present)

In late 2017, Sacks co-founded Craft Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund based in San Francisco. As a general partner, Sacks focused the fund on investments in enterprise software, fintech, and other technology sectors. Craft Ventures invested in a range of startups across various stages of growth, building on Sacks's experience as both an operator and angel investor.

The fund's portfolio reflected Sacks's longstanding interest in enterprise productivity tools and emerging technology platforms. Through Craft Ventures, Sacks maintained an active role in Silicon Valley's startup ecosystem, serving as both an investor and advisor to the companies in the fund's portfolio.

All-In Podcast

Sacks became a co-host of the All-In podcast, a technology and politics discussion program that launched in 2020. His co-hosts included venture capitalists Chamath Palihapitiya and David Friedberg, as well as technology journalist and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis. The podcast, which featured wide-ranging discussions on technology, economics, and political topics, developed a significant following among technology industry professionals and investors. The show provided Sacks with a prominent media platform and contributed to his growing public profile beyond the technology sector.

White House AI and Crypto Czar (2025–present)

In December 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced the appointment of Sacks to the newly created position of White House Special Advisor for AI and Crypto, a role colloquially referred to as the "AI and crypto czar." Sacks assumed the role on January 20, 2025, when Trump took office. On January 23, 2025, Sacks was additionally named co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), alongside Michael Kratsios.

In the role, Sacks was tasked with developing policy frameworks for artificial intelligence regulation and cryptocurrency markets. He became involved in the advancement of cryptocurrency legislation, including market structure bills moving through Congress. In an assessment of progress on crypto legislation, Sacks stated that the United States was "one step closer" to becoming the "crypto capital" following the advancement of a bill by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Sacks's appointment and subsequent policy work drew significant scrutiny regarding potential conflicts of interest. NPR reported in December 2025 that Sacks was "on the defensive over government" ethics concerns related to his extensive investments in AI companies, given his role in shaping federal AI policy. The New York Times reported in November 2025 that Sacks had "helped formulate policies that aid his Silicon Valley friends" and that his position had resulted in financial benefits for himself and his associates.

Industry observers also raised concerns about Sacks's approach to AI policy. Politico reported in December 2025 that technology industry lobbyists feared Sacks "could be derailing" the industry's AI agenda nationwide, despite being expected to serve as an advocate for the tech sector's interests in Washington.

Personal Life

Sacks has three children. He resided in the San Francisco Bay Area for much of his career, reflecting his deep ties to the Silicon Valley technology ecosystem. However, reporting in 2026 indicated that Sacks was among a group of technology billionaires considering relocating from California, with Miami and Austin identified as potential alternatives to New York City and San Francisco as financial and technology capitals. This potential relocation was reported in the context of California's proposed billionaire wealth tax, which prompted several prominent technology figures to evaluate options in states with more favorable tax environments.

Sacks has been publicly associated with conservative and libertarian political positions throughout his career, dating back to his involvement with the Stanford Review and his co-authorship of The Diversity Myth with Peter Thiel. His appointment to the Trump White House represented a formal entry into government service after years of political commentary through media appearances and the All-In podcast.

Recognition

Sacks's career has generated recognition across the technology, business, and media sectors. His role as COO and product leader at PayPal during the company's early years placed him among the influential group of executives collectively known as the PayPal Mafia, a designation that has been widely documented in business journalism and reflects the group's subsequent impact on Silicon Valley.

The sale of Yammer to Microsoft for $1.2 billion in 2012 established Sacks as a successful enterprise software founder, and his subsequent angel investments in companies including Facebook, Uber, SpaceX, Palantir, and Airbnb further solidified his standing in the venture capital community.

The All-In podcast provided Sacks with a media presence that extended his influence beyond traditional technology circles, reaching audiences interested in the intersection of technology, finance, and public policy.

His appointment as White House Special Advisor for AI and Crypto in January 2025 marked one of the highest-profile government roles to be held by a venture capitalist in a presidential administration, reflecting the increasing influence of the technology sector on federal policy. His concurrent role as co-chair of PCAST further underscored the scope of his advisory responsibilities within the Trump administration.

Legacy

David Sacks's career trajectory — from the PayPal executive suite to enterprise software founder to venture capitalist to White House advisor — reflects the expanding influence of Silicon Valley technologists on American business and governance. His time at PayPal connected him to a network of entrepreneurs and investors who collectively shaped much of the consumer internet and enterprise software landscape of the 2000s and 2010s.

Yammer's acquisition by Microsoft for $1.2 billion validated the concept of enterprise social networking and helped catalyze broader corporate investment in workplace collaboration tools, a category that would grow substantially in the following decade with products like Slack and Microsoft Teams.

Through Craft Ventures, Sacks continued to influence the startup ecosystem by providing both capital and operational guidance to early-stage companies, drawing on his own experience as a founder and executive. His investment track record, which included early positions in several companies that achieved valuations in the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars, established him as one of the most successful angel investors of his generation.

Sacks's appointment as the first White House AI and crypto czar represented a new chapter in the relationship between Silicon Valley and the federal government. The role placed him at the center of debates over artificial intelligence regulation and cryptocurrency policy at a time when both technologies were undergoing rapid development and attracting intense public scrutiny. However, this government role also brought sustained examination of the potential conflicts between his private investment portfolio and his public policy responsibilities, a tension documented by outlets including The New York Times, NPR, and Politico.