David Sacks
About David Sacks
David Sacks was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and studied at Stanford University and the University of Chicago Law School. He worked as a management consultant before joining Confinity in 1999. Confinity became PayPal, where he was the first product leader and COO. eBay acquired PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion.
Sacks later founded the enterprise social network Yammer, which Microsoft acquired in 2012 for $1.2 billion. In 2016 he was interim CEO of Zenefits for ten months. In 2017 he co-founded Craft Ventures in San Francisco with Bill Lee. In the same year he co-founded the blockchain startup Harbor as a Craft incubation. He also co-hosts the All-In podcast.
In December 2024 President Trump named him White House AI and crypto czar and leader of the President's Council of Advisors for Science and Technology. Some sources report that he left the czar role in March 2026.
Before Craft, Sacks made early angel investments in Facebook, Uber, SpaceX, Palantir and Airbnb, according to Craft's own profile of him. Other profiles also list Houzz and Slack. One source dates his SpaceX investment to 2009. Sources describe Craft as having backed more than 20 unicorns, counting both his angel investments and the firm's.
Fortune reported in December 2024 that Sacks led Craft's investment in Musk's xAI earlier that year. The same report said Craft's portfolio holds only a handful of pure AI companies. Press coverage lists other AI and developer companies Craft has backed, including OpenEvidence, Replit and Supabase. Sacks's public AI role since 2024 has been in policy. Craft's portfolio is mostly early-stage software.
Craft invests at Seed, Series A and Series B, and also runs growth funds. Craft's announcement of its second fund said Sacks focuses on consumer and SaaS products, and that he looks for products that can go viral. He led the Series A of micro-mobility company Bird. Axios describes Craft as focused mostly on B2B software, and Bloomberg calls it better known for enterprise software than crypto. Craft is based in San Francisco.
Sacks has not published a personal check size. Third-party databases give differing estimates for Craft, so treat those figures as unconfirmed. Craft's fund history includes a $500 million second fund and $3.3 billion in assets under management as of 2023.
- Facebook: early angel investment, year not public
- Uber: early angel investment, year not public
- SpaceX: early angel investment, reportedly 2009
- Palantir: early angel investment, year not public
- Airbnb: early angel investment, year not public
- Yammer: enterprise social network Sacks founded and ran as CEO; Microsoft acquired it in 2012
- Bird: micro-mobility company; Sacks led the Series A at Craft
- xAI: AI company; Sacks led a Craft investment in 2024
- Pipe: Craft participated in its $6M seed round in February 2020
- Sandbox VR: Craft participated in its $11M Series A in October 2019
- Supabase, Replit, OpenEvidence: Craft portfolio companies in developer tools and AI, investment dates not confirmed
- craftventures.com/team/david-sacks
- dc.fortune.com/2024/12/20/trump-ai-crypto-czar-role-limited-david-sack
- medium.com/craft-ventures/announcing-craft-ii-500-million-for-founders
- dealroom.co/news/144631-david-sacks-craft-ventures-targets-1b-fund-aft
- hustlefund.vc/post/angel-squad-david-sacks-investments-the-paypal-mafi
- signal.nfx.com/investors/david-sacks
- lochhead.com/david-sacks
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sacks
Investing activity
David Sacks is listed on Lounge as an angel investor. The deals desk records Series A and later AI rounds and seeds over $10M, so smaller checks may not show here yet.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about David Sacks
Does David Sacks invest in AI startups?
Yes. Fortune reported that he led Craft's 2024 investment in xAI. Craft has also backed Replit, Supabase and OpenEvidence, though most of its portfolio is early-stage software rather than pure AI.
What stage does David Sacks invest in?
Craft Ventures, the firm he co-founded, invests at Seed, Series A and Series B and also has growth funds. His early angel investments were made before Craft existed.
What is David Sacks's check size?
He has not publicly stated one. Third-party databases estimate Craft's check sizes differently, so these figures are unconfirmed.
What does David Sacks look for in a startup?
Craft's second-fund announcement said he focuses on consumer and SaaS products and looks for products that can go viral, online or in the real world. Axios describes the firm's focus as mostly B2B software.
Is David Sacks still the White House AI and crypto czar?
Trump named him to the role in December 2024. Several sources report he stepped down in March 2026. Check current news before relying on this.
How should founders pitch David Sacks?
Sacks does not publish a pitch process. Craft's profiles suggest it suits B2B software, developer tools or products with viral growth. Founders can look up Craft's team page for current contact routes.
Is David Sacks an angel investor?
Yes. David Sacks invests personally as an angel.
How can founders reach David Sacks?
Founders on Lounge can see David Sacks's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with them under Warm Paths, and add David Sacks to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.