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David O. Sacks

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David Sacks
Sacks in 2011
Born
David Oliver Sacks

(1972-05-25)May 25, 1972(age 52)
Cape Town,South Africa
Education
OccupationTech entrepreneur / investor
EmployerCraft Ventures
Known forFormerCEOofZenefits,formerCOOofPayPaland CEO ofYammer
Spouse
Jacqueline Tortorice
​
​
(m.2007)​
Children3

David Oliver Sacks(born May 25, 1972)[1]is a South African-American[2]entrepreneur, author, and investor in internet technology firms. He is a general partner ofCraft Ventures,aventure capitalfund he co-founded in late 2017. Additionally, he is a co-host of theAll Inpodcast, alongsideChamath Palihapitiya,Jason CalacanisandDavid Friedberg.[3]Previously, Sacks was theCOOand product leader ofPayPal,[1][4]and founder andCEOofYammer.[5][6]In 2016, he became interim CEO of Zenefits for ten months.[7]In 2017, Sacks co-foundedCraft Ventures,[8]an early-stage venture fund. Hisangelinvestments includeFacebook,Uber,SpaceX,Palantir Technologies,andAirbnb.[9][10][11]

Early life and education

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Sacks was born to aJewishfamily inCape Town,South Africa, and immigrated toTennessee,United States, with his family when he was five.[12][13]Though Sacks did not know he wanted to be an entrepreneur, he did not want to work a profession like his father, who was anendocrinologist.He took inspiration from his grandfather, who started a candy factory in the 1920s.[14]

Sacks attendedMemphis University SchoolinMemphis, Tennessee.He earned hisBachelor of Artsin economics fromStanford Universityin 1994[14]and aJuris Doctorfrom theUniversity of Chicago Law Schoolin 1998.[15][16][17]

Career

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PayPal

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In 1999, Sacks left his job as a management consultant forMcKinsey & Companyto joinMax Levchin,Peter Thiel,andLuke Nosek's e-commerce startup Confinity.[18][19]Later that year, Sacks was the inaugural product leader of Confinity's milestone product, and corporate successor,PayPal.[19][20]Upon promotion to PaypalCOO,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.[19][21]PayPal had theirinitial public offeringin February 2002. It was one of the first IPOs after theSeptember 11 attacks.The stock rose more than 54% on the first day.[22]In October 2002,eBayacquired PayPal for $1.5 billion.[23]

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 bust of 2001.[24][25]

Film producer

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Following PayPal's acquisition, Sacks produced and financed the political satireThank You for Smoking,which premiered at the2005 Toronto International Film Festival,was acquired byTwentieth Century Foxfor theatrical release in 2006, and was nominated for twoGolden Globes,including ‘Best Motion Picture.’[1]

Sacks developed and produced the 2023 biopicDalílandabout artistSalvador Dalí.[26]Dalíland premiered at the2022 Toronto International Film Festivaland was acquired byMagnolia Picturesfor theatrical release in 2023.[26]

Geni

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In 2006, Sacks foundedGeni,a genealogy website. In 2008, Sacks and co-founderAdam Pisonispun this internal communications tool into a standalone company calledYammer.[27]Geni was acquired byMyHeritagein 2012.[28]

Yammer

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In 2008,Yammerlaunched the first Enterprise Social Network, a secure solution for internal corporate communication and collaboration,[29]winning the grand prize atTechCrunch50 conference.[30]According toSocial Capital,[31]Yammer's viral approach made it among the fastest-growing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies in history, exceeding eight million enterprise users in just four years. Yammer received approximately US$142 million in funding fromventure capitalfirms such asCharles River Ventures,Founders Fund,Emergence Capital Partners, and Goldcrest Investments.[32]

In July 2012,Microsoftacquired Yammer for $1.2 billion as a core part of its cloud/social strategy.[33]

Zenefits

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In December 2014, Sacks made a "major investment" inZenefits.[34]In January 2016, Zenefits' board asked him to step in as interim CEO amidst a "regulatory crisis" regarding the company's licensing compliance.[35]Over the next year, Sacks negotiated a resolution with insurance regulators across the U.S. – receiving praise for "righting the ship".[36]Sacks also revamped[37]Zenefits' product line with an initiative he named "Z2",[38][39]introducing a SaaS business model. Shortly after,PC Magazinenoted that Zenefits had become "the best HR software on the market," while Buzzfeed reported the company was losing over $200 million annually.[40][41]After just 10 months in the role, Sacks was succeeded by formerOoyalaCEO Jay Fulcher.[42]

Angel investments

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Sacks has been investing in technology companies for twenty years.[43]As anangel investor,his investments includeAddepar,Affirm,Airbnb,Clutter,Eventbrite,Facebook,Gusto,Houzz,Intercom,Mixpanel,Opendoor,Palantir Technologies,PayPal,Postmates,ResearchGate,Rumble,Scribd,Slack,SpaceX,SurveyMonkey,ThirdLove,UberandWish.[9]

Craft Ventures

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In late 2017, Sacks co-foundedCraft Venturesand raised an initial fund of $350 million.[44]Craft raised $1.1B in 2021, which brought total assets under management to $2B, according to a Medium post published by the company.[45]Unicornsin Craft Ventures Fund I and Fund II includeBird,[46]BitGo,[citation needed]ClickUp,[47][48]Pipe,[49]Reddit,[50]SourceGraph,[51]andSpaceX.[52][44]

Glue

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In 2021, Sacks and his former colleague from Craft, Evan Owen, co-founded workspace chat company called Glue. Their product is an AI tool that could be invoked from specific chats on platforms like Google Meet and Zoom, allowing employees to get AI assistance during conversations. It was launched to the public in May 2024.[53][54]

Political views

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According toThe New Republic,"Sacks is using his wealth and online clout to unite conservatives and former leftists in a reactionary movement against liberalism".[55]

The Diversity Myth

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After graduating from Stanford, Sacks co-authored withPeter Thielthe 1995 bookThe Diversity Myth:Multiculturalism and the Politics of Intolerance at Stanford,published bythe Independent Institute.[56]The book is critical ofpolitical correctnessin higher education and argues that moreintellectual diversityis needed on college campuses.[56]The following year, writing forStanford Magazine,he argued againstaffirmative action in the United States,saying that it had hurt the "disadvantaged", not helped them, and had led to increased segregation atStanford Universityin the name of "diversity".[57]

Support for political campaigns

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According to the Federal Election Commission, Sacks donated $50,000 to Republican Party candidateMitt Romney's presidential campaign in 2012. In 2016, he donated nearly $70,000 to Democratic Party candidateHillary Clinton's presidential campaign.[58]

In the2022 San Francisco Board of Education recall electionsof members Collins, Moliga, and Lopez, Sacks gave one of the largest contributions to support the recall.[59][60]He is also a significant booster ofRepublicancandidates, sponsoring a spring 2022 fundraiser for GOP senate hopefuls includingJ. D. VanceandBlake Mastersalongside his former colleague and partnerKeith Rabois.[61]In total, Sacks directly gave over $1 million to Senate candidates in 2022.[62]

On May 24, 2023, Sacks was the moderator whenRon DeSantisannounced his2024 presidential campaignonTwitter Spaces.He praised DeSantis and donated $50,000 to his campaign.[63]Later in June 2023, Sacks hosted a $10,000/plate fundraiser forRobert F. Kennedy Jr.[64]He also hosted a campaign fundraiser forDonald Trumpat his home in June 2024, which raised around $12 million.[65][66]

Russian invasion of Ukraine

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Since October 2022, Sacks has been commenting on theRussian invasion of Ukraine,typically taking a view against US involvement in Ukraine, and especially US military funding for Ukraine.[67]

Silicon Valley Bank bank run

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During theSilicon Valley Bank (SVB) bank runin March 2023, Sacks advocated for urgent government action to guarantee the deposits of SVB customers. He faced backlash from some who criticized that the very people who eviscerated banking regulations now seek to be shielded from the catastrophe they caused.[68]

Personal life

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On July 7, 2007, Sacks married Jacqueline Tortorice.[69]The couple have two daughters and one son.[14]

References

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  1. ^abcThomas, Owen (June 25, 2012)."Meet The Yammer CEO Who Just Made Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars Selling To Microsoft".Business Insider.RetrievedJune 2,2020.
  2. ^@DavidSacks (April 20, 2024)."I became a U.S. citizen in 1982"(Tweet) – viaTwitter.
  3. ^"ALL-IN with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg".allinpodcast.co.
  4. ^"eBay to Acquire PayPal-- Shared Mission Will Expand Platforms and Benefit Consumers".eBay(Press release). July 8, 2002. Archived fromthe originalon November 21, 2017.RetrievedDecember 8,2017.
  5. ^Bryant, Adam (July 16, 2011)."Fostering a Culture of Dissent".The New York Times.RetrievedJune 2,2020.
  6. ^"With $1.2 Billion Yammer Buy, Microsoft's Social Enterprise Strategy Takes Shape".TechCrunch.June 25, 2012.RetrievedDecember 8,2017.
  7. ^Manjoo, Farhad (October 12, 2016)."Zenefits, a Rocket That Fell to Earth, Tries to Launch Again".The New York Times.RetrievedDecember 8,2017.
  8. ^"David Sacks teams with Bill Lee to raise $350 million VC fund".Axios.January 4, 2018.RetrievedJune 2,2020.
  9. ^abRao, Leena (November 8, 2011)."Max Levchin, Keith Rabois And David Sacks Back The Uber For Carwashes, Cherry".TechCrunch.RetrievedDecember 8,2017.
  10. ^Bort, Julie (July 6, 2016)."Why one of the most successful people in tech took the No. 2 job at a startup".Business Insider.RetrievedDecember 8,2017.
  11. ^Griffith, Erin (June 5, 2014)."Meet the Uber Rich".Fortune.RetrievedDecember 8,2017.
  12. ^Markoe, Lauren (May 23, 2023)."Who is the Jewish guy who will 'moderate' DeSantis' presidential launch on Twitter?".The Forward.RetrievedMarch 8,2024.
  13. ^Guynn, Jessica (July 1, 2012)."Yammer CEO: A Voice To Be Heard".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedJune 2,2020.
  14. ^abcHerel, Suzanne (February 22, 2012)."Meet the Boss: David Sacks, CEO of Yammer".SF Gate.RetrievedNovember 6,2018.
  15. ^"PayPal: executive officers and directors".March 1, 2002. Archived fromthe originalon January 19, 2017.RetrievedFebruary 18,2011– viaEDGAR.
  16. ^"Management bios".Yammer.Archived fromthe originalon July 18, 2011.RetrievedFebruary 17,2011.
  17. ^Davis, Joshua (September 2007)."Take2.0: Former PayPal executive and Hollywood producer David Sacks returns to the start-up world, harnessing Web 2.0 to build a collaborative family-tree site".University of Chicago Magazine.Vol. 100, no. 1.
  18. ^Lillington, Karlin."PayPal Puts Dough in Your Palm".Wired.ISSN1059-1028.RetrievedMarch 8,2024.
  19. ^abc"Craft Ventures".craftventures.RetrievedMarch 8,2024.
  20. ^"PayPal: A Merger of Enemies That Reshaped Silicon Valley".Sequoia Capital.RetrievedMarch 8,2024.
  21. ^D'Onfro, Jillian (March 15, 2014)."Here's Why A Former PayPal Exec Absolutely Hates Meetings".Business Insider.RetrievedMay 31,2018.
  22. ^Kane, Margaret (May 19, 2002)."PayPal shares make strong debut".CNET.Archived fromthe originalon March 2, 2022.RetrievedMarch 8,2024.
  23. ^"eBay buys PayPal for $1.5B".CNN Money.July 8, 2002.
  24. ^Forrest, Conner (June 30, 2014)."How the 'PayPal Mafia' redefined success in Silicon Valley".TechRepublic.RetrievedFebruary 21,2019.
  25. ^Banks, Marcus (May 16, 2008)."Nonfiction review: 'Once You're Lucky'".SFGate.
  26. ^abD'Alessandro, Anthony (November 22, 2022)."Ezra Miller-Ben Kingsley Dark Comedy 'DaliLand' Picked Up By Magnolia Pictures".Deadline.RetrievedAugust 8,2023.
  27. ^Taylor, Colleen (June 25, 2012)."Memory Lane: Watch The Moment In 2008 When Yammer Launched As A Standalone Business".TechCrunch.
  28. ^Lynley, Matthew (November 28, 2012)."MyHeritage Raises $25 Million, Aquires [sic] Geni".The Wall Street Journal.
  29. ^Van Grove, Jennifer (October 21, 2010)."How Yammer Won Over 80% of the Fortune 500".Mashable.Archived fromthe originalon March 4, 2013.RetrievedMay 31,2018.
  30. ^Schonfeld, Erick (September 10, 2012)."Yammer Takes Top Prize At TechCrunch50".TechCrunch.
  31. ^Hamid, Mamoon (February 4, 2015)."Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Secrets to Raising Venture Capital".SlideShare.Social Capital.RetrievedMay 31,2018.
  32. ^Hesseldahl, Arik (February 29, 2012)."Yammer Lands $85 Million Funding Round From Draper Fisher Jurvetson".AllThingsD.RetrievedMarch 8,2024.
  33. ^Lardinois, Frederic (July 19, 2012)."Microsoft Completes Its $1.2B Yammer Acquisition".TechCrunch.
  34. ^O'Brien, Chris (December 10, 2014)."Yammer founder David Sacks joins Zenefits as COO, makes 'major investment' in company".VentureBeat.RetrievedMarch 9,2018.
  35. ^Solomon, Brian (February 8, 2016)."Zenefits CEO Parker Conrad Resigns Amid Scandal".Forbes.RetrievedMarch 9,2018.
  36. ^Somerville, Heather (July 25, 2016)."Zenefits fined $62,500 by Tennessee regulators in first settlement on licensing".Reuters.RetrievedMarch 9,2018.
  37. ^Frank, Blair Hanley (October 18, 2016)."Here's how Zenefits is trying to reinvent itself".PCWorld.RetrievedMarch 9,2018.
  38. ^Lynley, Matthew; Mannes, John (October 18, 2016)."Zenefits opens up to third-party developers and launches a suite of new HR tools".TechCrunch.RetrievedMarch 9,2018.
  39. ^Chang, Emily (October 18, 2016)."Zenefits CEO on Closing the Chapter on Compliance Issues".Bloomberg Technology.RetrievedMarch 9,2018.
  40. ^Martinez, Juan (February 10, 2017)."BambooHR vs. Zenefits Z2: An HR Software Showdown".PC Magazine.RetrievedMarch 9,2018.
  41. ^Alden, William (December 2, 2016)."Zenefits Lost $200 Million Last Year".BuzzFeed News.
  42. ^Yeung, Ken (February 6, 2017)."Zenefits names former Ooyala CEO Jay Fulcher to succeed David Sacks".VentureBeat.RetrievedMarch 9,2018.
  43. ^"David Sacks Angel List".wellfound, formerly AngelList Talent.RetrievedMay 31,2018.
  44. ^abPrimack, Dan (January 4, 2018)."David Sacks teams with Bill Lee to raise $350 million VC fund".Axios.RetrievedMay 31,2018.
  45. ^Fluhr, Jeff (August 4, 2021)."Announcing Craft III: $1.1 Billion for SaaS and Marketplaces".Medium.RetrievedAugust 27,2021.
  46. ^Yakowicz, Will (December 10, 2018)."14 Months, 120 Cities, $2 Billion: There's Never Been a Company Like Bird. Is the World Ready?".Inc.RetrievedAugust 27,2021.
  47. ^Riley, Duncan (December 15, 2020)."Productivity platform startup ClickUp raises $100M on $1B unicorn valuation".siliconAngle.RetrievedAugust 27,2021.
  48. ^"ClickUp: Audatia is the Best Consulting to serve you in Brazil".ClickUp Audatia Brasil(in Portuguese).
  49. ^Porter, Ashley (May 19, 2021)."Pipe is South Florida's newest 'unicorn' after $250M fundraising round".South Florida Business Journal.RetrievedAugust 27,2021.
  50. ^Needleman, Sarah E. (February 9, 2021)."Reddit's Valuation Doubles to $6 Billion After Funding Round".The Wall Street Journal.RetrievedAugust 27,2021.
  51. ^Venkatesh, Sai (July 14, 2021)."Sourcegraph raises $125M in Series D at $2.625B valuation from Andreessen Horowitz".SaaS Industry.Archived from the original on December 20, 2022.RetrievedAugust 27,2021.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  52. ^Sheetz, Michael (February 16, 2021)."Elon Musk's SpaceX raised $850 million, jumping valuation to about $74 billion".CNBC.RetrievedAugust 27,2021.
  53. ^McBride, Sarah (May 14, 2024)."AI Startup Co-Founded by David Sacks Officially Launches".Bloomberg News.Archivedfrom the original on May 14, 2024.
  54. ^Garfinkle, Allie (May 15, 2024)."David Sacks' Slack challenger Glue has opened up to the public".Fortune.Archivedfrom the original on May 15, 2024.
  55. ^Silverman, Jacob (October 18, 2022)."The Quiet Political Rise of David Sacks, Silicon Valley's Prophet of Urban Doom".The New Republic.RetrievedJune 9,2024.
  56. ^abSacks, David O.;Thiel, Peter A.(January 1, 1998)."The Diversity Myth: Multiculturalism and Political Intolerance on Campus".The Independent Institute.RetrievedJune 7,2015.
  57. ^Sacks, David;Thiel, Peter(September 1, 1996)."The Case Against Affirmative Action".Stanford Magazine.
  58. ^Swisher, Kara (October 24, 2016)."Zenefits CEO David Sacks apologizes for parts of a 1996 book he co-wrote with Peter Thiel that called date rape 'belated regret'".Vox.RetrievedNovember 3,2022.
  59. ^"Recall Measure Regarding Gabriela López".San Francisco Voter Guide.Archived fromthe originalon January 20, 2022.RetrievedJanuary 20,2022.
  60. ^Sumida, Nami (January 17, 2022)."Who is supporting the S.F. Board of Education recall? Here's what the data shows".San Francisco Chronicle.RetrievedJanuary 20,2022.
  61. ^Schleifer, Teddy (August 23, 2022)."Take Back The Senate Invitation".Twitter.RetrievedOctober 13,2022.
  62. ^"Donor Lookup".OpenSecrets.RetrievedNovember 9,2023.
  63. ^Victor, Daniel (May 24, 2023)."Who Is David Sacks? A Fitting Bridge Between DeSantis and Musk".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedMay 25,2023.
  64. ^Bergengruen, Vera (June 14, 2023)."Inside the Very Online Campaign of RFK Jr".Time.
  65. ^Schleifer, Theodore (June 6, 2024)."'It's Not 2016 Anymore': Trump Finds Friends in Silicon Valley ".The New York Times.
  66. ^Ulmer, Alexander (June 7, 2024)."Trump rakes in $12 million at tech fundraiser in liberal San Francisco".Reuters.
  67. ^"The Quiet Political Rise of David Sacks, Silicon Valley's Prophet of Urban Doom".The New Republic.ISSN0028-6583.RetrievedAugust 2,2024.
  68. ^Heer, Jeet (March 13, 2023)."Silicon Valley Learns to Love Socialism for the Rich".The Nation.RetrievedMarch 24,2024.
  69. ^Thomas, Owen (June 14, 2012)."Yammer's CEO Is About To Sell For $1 Billion To Microsoft, And Then Throw Himself An Over-The-Top Ridiculous Party".Business Insider.RetrievedMarch 7,2024.
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Interviews

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