David Sacks

David Oliver Sacks (born May 25, 1972) is a South African-American entrepreneur, author, and investor in internet technology firms. He is a general partner of Craft Ventures, a venture capital fund he co-founded in late 2017. Additionally, he is a co-host of the All In podcast, alongside Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis and David Friedberg. Previously, Sacks was the COO and product leader of PayPal, and founder and CEO of Yammer. In 2016, he became interim CEO of Zenefits for ten months. In 2017, Sacks co-founded Craft Ventures, an early-stage venture fund. His angel investments include Facebook, Uber, SpaceX, Palantir Technologies, and Airbnb. In December 2024, President Donald Trump named Sacks the White House AI and crypto czar for the incoming administration; he stepped down in March 2026.

Sacks was born to a Jewish family in Cape Town, South Africa, and emigrated to Tennessee, United States, with his family when he was five. Though Sacks did not know he wanted to become an entrepreneur, he did not want to work in a profession like his father, who was an endocrinologist. He says he took inspiration from his grandfather, who started a candy factory in the 1920s.

Sacks attended Memphis University School in Memphis, Tennessee. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Stanford University in 1994 and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1998.

In 1999, Sacks left his job as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company to join Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, and Luke Nosek's e-commerce startup Confinity. Later that year, Sacks was the inaugural product leader of Confinity's milestone product, and corporate successor, PayPal. Upon promotion to Paypal COO, he built many of the company's key teams, and was responsible for product management and design, sales and marketing, business development, international, customer service, fraud operations, and human resources functions. PayPal had their initial public offering in February 2002. It was one of the first IPOs after the September 11 attacks. The stock rose more than 54% on the first day. In October 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion.

Sacks is a member of the so-called "PayPal Mafia", a group of founders and early employees of PayPal who went on to found a series of other successful technology companies. They are often credited with inspiring Web 2.0 and the re-emergence of consumer-focused Internet companies after the dot-com bubble bust of 2001.

Following PayPal's acquisition, Sacks produced and financed the political satire Thank You for Smoking, which premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival, was acquired by Twentieth Century Fox for theatrical release in 2006, and was nominated for two Golden Globes, including 'Best Motion Picture.'

Sacks developed and produced the 2023 biopic Dalíland about artist Salvador Dalí. Dalíland premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and was acquired by Magnolia Pictures for theatrical release in 2023.

In 2006, Sacks founded Geni.com, a genealogy website. In 2008, Sacks and co-founder Adam Pisoni spun off an internal communications tool created by Geni employees to communicate with each other into a standalone company called Yammer. Geni was acquired by MyHeritage in 2012.

On December 5, 2024, President Donald Trump named Sacks the White House AI and crypto czar, a newly created role with the goal of building a legal framework for the cryptocurrency industry. Following Trump's inauguration, a Crypto Ball was held where David Sacks declared that, "The war on crypto is over." Trump also named him to lead the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Trump said that Sacks would "safeguard Free Speech online, and steer us away from Big Tech bias and censorship." Trump further stated that Sacks would "work on a legal framework so the crypto industry has the clarity it has been asking for, and can thrive in the U.S."

According to Bloomberg News, Sacks would be a "special government employee," allowing him to work for the government for a maximum of 130 days per year, with or without compensation. This status exempts him from undergoing confirmation hearings and from specific financial disclosure requirements. Before taking office, Sacks and Craft Ventures sold their direct cryptocurrency holdings, while still maintaining his investments in crypto startups.

Sacks announced the end of his tenure as crypto czar in March 2026, although he remained as co-chair on the Council of Advisers.

The appointment of Sacks sparked various reactions. The tech community, particularly those with conservative-libertarian leanings, viewed it as an opportunity for less regulation and more innovation, aligning with Trump's promises to promote cryptocurrency and challenge previous AI policies to compete with China. Sacks, known for his involvement in Trump's campaign, including hosting a fundraiser and speaking at the Republican National Convention, underscores his political alignment.

According to a 2024 New York Times article, "Over the last few years, Mr. Sacks, a longtime associate of Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, has transformed from a prominent Silicon Valley executive into an unlikely media celebrity for would-be entrepreneurs, especially those leaning right, who listen to his popular All-In podcast."

According to The New Republic, "Sacks is using his wealth and online clout to unite conservatives and former leftists in a reactionary movement against liberalism".

After graduating from Stanford, Sacks co-authored with Peter Thiel the 1995 book The Diversity Myth: Multiculturalism and the Politics of Intolerance at Stanford, published by the Independent Institute. The book is critical of political correctness in higher education and argues that more intellectual diversity is needed on college campuses. The following year, writing for Stanford Magazine, he argued against affirmative action in the United States, saying that it had hurt the "disadvantaged", not helped them, and had led to increased segregation at Stanford in the name of "diversity".

According to the Federal Election Commission, Sacks donated $50,000 to Republican Party candidate Mitt Romney's presidential campaign in 2012. In 2016, he donated nearly $70,000 to Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

In the 2022 San Francisco Board of Education recall elections, Sacks gave one of the largest contributions to support the recall. He is also a significant booster of Republican candidates, sponsoring a spring 2022 fundraiser for GOP Senate hopefuls including JD Vance and Blake Masters alongside his former colleague and partner Keith Rabois. In total, Sacks directly gave over $1 million to Senate candidates in 2022.

On July 7, 2007, Sacks married Jacqueline Tortorice. The couple have two daughters and one son. They live on Broadway in Pacific Heights, San Francisco, in an area known as "Billionaire's Row". In June 2024, they hosted a sold-out fundraiser for Donald Trump at their home, with tickets from $50,000 to $300,000 per person.

For his 40th birthday, Sacks rented the Fleur de Lys mansion in Los Angeles and threw a Marie Antoinette-themed party.