David Sacks
David Sacks is a South African-born American entrepreneur and political figure who served as chief operating officer of PayPal, founded Yammer, cohosted the All-In Podcast, and was appointed White House AI and cryptocurrency czar under the second Trump administration.
David Sacks (born May 25, 1972, in Cape Town, South Africa) is a PayPal Mafia principal who served as chief operating officer of PayPal, founded Yammer (the enterprise social network, acquired by Microsoft in 2012 for 1.2 billion dollars), produced the film Thank You for Smoking (2005), and was appointed Special Advisor on Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency (the "AI and crypto czar") under the second Trump administration. Sacks cohosted the All-In Podcast, which became a media channel for the PayPal Mafia cohort's political positions during the 2022-2025 period.12
The PayPal COO Role and the Post-PayPal Ventures
Sacks served as chief operating officer at PayPal through the 2002 eBay acquisition, managing the company's operations alongside Thiel (chief executive) and Levchin (chief technology officer). The COO role placed Sacks in operational control of the company's day-to-day execution during the period when the anti-fraud architecture was built and the PayPal Mafia cohort was formed. After the eBay sale, Sacks founded Yammer, the enterprise social network that applied consumer-social-networking patterns to corporate communications. Microsoft acquired Yammer in 2012.1
Sacks subsequently founded Craft Ventures, a venture capital firm whose portfolio overlaps with the PayPal Mafia and Thiel-network commercial ecosystem. Sacks also produced the film Thank You for Smoking (2005), an adaptation of the Christopher Buckley satirical novel about tobacco-industry lobbying.1
The All-In Podcast and the Trump AI/Crypto Role
The All-In Podcast, cohosted by Sacks with Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, and David Friedberg, became a media channel for the PayPal Mafia cohort's political positions during the 2022-2025 period. The podcast's audience overlaps with the Dialog invitation list and the Founders Fund portfolio community. Sacks used the platform to advance the positions on AI regulation, cryptocurrency policy, and defense procurement that he subsequently entered the government to implement.2
In the second Trump administration, Sacks received the Special Advisor on Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency appointment. The role covers federal AI policy, cryptocurrency regulation, and the broader technology-policy agenda. Sacks's appointment placed a PayPal Mafia principal in the executive branch with authority over the technology sectors that the Thiel-network commercial infrastructure operates in.2
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