# David Sacks

Co-Chair, President’s Council of Advisors on Science & Technology. TIME100 AI 2026, Shapers. Before shaping White House AI policy, he was PayPal's COO and product leader and produced the movie Thank You for Smoking. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sacks))

- Born: 1972-05-25, Cape Town, South Africa ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sacks))
- Education: JD, Law, University of Chicago, 1998; BA, Economics, Stanford University, 1994 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sacks))
- Career: White House (Special Advisor for AI and Crypto; Co-Chair, PCAST, 2025 to now); Craft Ventures (Co-founder and General Partner, 2017 to now); Zenefits (Interim CEO, 2016); Yammer (Founder and CEO, 2008–2014); PayPal (COO, 1999–2002); McKinsey (Management consultant, until 1999) ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sacks), [whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/03/president-trump-announces-appointments-to-presidents-council-of-advisors-on-science-and-technology/), [craftventures.com](https://www.craftventures.com/team/david-sacks), [allin.com](https://allin.com/about/david-sacks), [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidoliversacks))
- TIME profile: https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/2026/david-sacks/
- Profile: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/most-influential-people-in-ai/david-sacks

- After PayPal he produced and financed the 2005 satirical film Thank You for Smoking. ([linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidoliversacks))
- Met Peter Thiel at Stanford working on the Stanford Review, and the two co-wrote a 1995 book, The Diversity Myth. ([theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/20/david-sacks-trump-ai-czar))
- Founded Yammer in 2008; it grew past eight million users and sold to Microsoft for $1.2 billion. ([allin.com](https://allin.com/about/david-sacks))
- Left the AI and crypto czar post in March 2026 because special government employees may work only 130 days a year, then became PCAST co-chair. ([reuters.com](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white-house-ai-czar-sacks-step-down-moves-advisory-role-2026-03-27/))
- Has invested in more than 20 unicorns, with early angel bets on Facebook, Uber, SpaceX, Palantir and Airbnb. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sacks))
- Co-hosts the All-In podcast, launched in March 2020 during the pandemic; it now has more than a million YouTube subscribers. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-In_Podcast))