Key Takeaways- David Sacks is a prominent figure in the tech industry, known for co-founding and investing in successful companies like PayPal and Yammer, with a net worth estimated by Forbes to be over $250 million in 2025.
- Sacks' career began after graduating from Stanford University and the University of Chicago Law School, starting in management consulting, then moving to PayPal as COO, contributing to its growth, and later co-founding Yammer, which was acquired by Microsoft for $1.2 billion.
- Beyond PayPal and Yammer, Sacks has made significant investments in a variety of tech startups including Geni.com, Zenefits, and numerous others, while also making angel investments in companies like Airbnb, Facebook, and SpaceX.
- Besides his professional achievements, Sacks is known for his philanthropic efforts, donating to healthcare, education, and environmental sustainability, and he continues to be a major influence in Silicon Valley and the tech startup ecosystem.
- David Sacks is a prominent figure in the tech industry, known for co-founding and investing in successful companies like PayPal and Yammer, with a net worth estimated by Forbes to be over $250 million in 2025.
- Sacks' career began after graduating from Stanford University and the University of Chicago Law School, starting in management consulting, then moving to PayPal as COO, contributing to its growth, and later co-founding Yammer, which was acquired by Microsoft for $1.2 billion.
- Beyond PayPal and Yammer, Sacks has made significant investments in a variety of tech startups including Geni.com, Zenefits, and numerous others, while also making angel investments in companies like Airbnb, Facebook, and SpaceX.
- Besides his professional achievements, Sacks is known for his philanthropic efforts, donating to healthcare, education, and environmental sustainability, and he continues to be a major influence in Silicon Valley and the tech startup ecosystem.
Have you ever felt intrigued to explore notable entrepreneurs and investors in the tech world who introduced modern-day solutions like PayPal? If yes, you must have come across the name of David Sacks, a notable personality with endless contributions to this industry.
As an influential personality in the technology business, David Sacks has co-founded, led, and invested in some of the most successful companies over the last two decades. From PayPal to Yammer and others, his journey has helped introduce the world to various successful tech solutions.
That being said, you might wonder, 'What is David Sacks' net worth?' While it's impossible to evaluate the exact net worth of such notable prominent figures, we can always run down David's career and achievements to get a better estimate. So, without any delay, let's explore!
Early Life and Education
Born in 1972 to a Jewish family in Cape Town, South Africa, Sacks moved to Tennessee with his family when he was five. Now, he was greatly inspired by his grandfather from a young age, who founded a candy factory in the 1920s. But, Sacks wasn't always sure he wanted to be an entrepreneur.
It wasn’t until he closely explored the technology industry in 1994 while pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Economics at Stanford University that he gained a passion for tech and how it can transform industries and society. This exploration allowed Sacks to find his interest in technology. As a result, he began his IT career soon after graduation.
In the beginning, he worked for several well-known corporations, including Microsoft. These experiences helped him gain vital expertise while polishing his knowledge and skills as a software engineer. Over time, he established himself as a capable professional, renowned for his inventiveness and ability to handle complex issues.
In 1998, Sacks also received a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. However, he never really practiced law. Instead, his growth and contributions to date are mainly linked with the technology industry.
Career Milestones
As mentioned, David wasn't always clear about his professional goals towards entrepreneurship. Hence, he began his career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. But when he realized his entrepreneurial dreams, he joined PayPal as a chief operating officer and product leader in 1999.
Through his involvement in the company, David helped establish and grow this online payment business’s yearly payment volume from nothing to $3.5 billion. However, in 2002, when eBay acquired the company, some of the original founders and early executives, including Peter Thiel, Jeremy Stoppelman, Reid Hoffman, Max Levchin, and even David Sacks, left PayPal to pursue their own entrepreneurial ventures.
This marked the beginning of their successful careers as tech entrepreneurs and investors, and they are now collectively known as the “PayPal Mafia,” a group of former PayPal employees who went on to find or invest in other successful tech businesses. This includes globally renowned tech-based innovations like Facebook, Tesla, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Palantir.
Interestingly, the endless success stories of these notable personalities have made people consider the PayPal Mafia an elite Dream Team of startup all-stars. And why not? Specifically focusing on David's journey, his second biggest achievement after PayPal was Yammer, a corporate social network that was used by over 8 million users by 2012.
Obviously, this huge success of Yammer is one of the primary reasons why Microsoft acquired the company for $1.2 billion, making Sacks a billionaire. How did it become such a huge success? We’ll discuss that, along with Sacks' other successful investments, further in this article.
Ventures and Investments
As mentioned, Sacks' achievements and successful investments go way beyond his involvement in the growth and success of PayPal. This includes:
Geni.com
Founded by Sacks in 2006, Geni is a genealogical website that allows family members to collaborate on creating an online family tree. This startup was purchased by MyHeritage in 2012.
Yammer
While still working at Geni, Sacks wanted to attain greater visibility of what was going on throughout the firm. This need influenced him and his team to develop a productivity tool to assist staff in sharing information. Later, Sacks and co-founder Adam Pisoni turned this internal messaging technology, Yammer, into a separate company in 2008.
As the first Enterprise Social Network back then, Yammer won the grand prize at the TechCrunch50 conference in the same year as its launch. According to Social Capital, Yammer's viral approach turned it into one of the fastest-growing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies in history, surpassing eight million customers in just four years. In 2012, as previously mentioned, Microsoft acquired Yammer as part of its cloud/social strategy.
Zenefits
In December 2014, Sacks invested in Zenefits, an all-in-one human resources (HR) software. Later, in 2016, Zenefits' board of directors invited Sacks to be its temporary CEO due to a regulatory crisis with the company's licensing compliance.
In the following years, Sacks worked with insurance regulators nationwide to reach an agreement while redesigning Zenefits' product line by introducing the "Z2" initiative as part of a SaaS business model.
Still, Sacks couldn’t help the company recover its position, leading to a loss of $204.5 million in its last fiscal year, as reported by BuzzFeed News. Hence, after barely ten months on the job, Zenefits' former CEO, Jay Fulcher, succeeded Sacks.
Other Investments
Besides these notable investments, Sacks has also made angel investments in many other technological startups throughout the past two decades. This includes Airbnb, Facebook, SpaceX, Affirm, Intercom, Clutter, Bird, Eventbrite, Gusto, Opendoor, Houzz, Scribd, Mixpanel, Slack, Palantir Technologies, Postmates, ResearchGate, Rumble, ThirdLove, SurveyMonkey, Uber, Wish, and more.
David Sacks' Net Worth
According to Forbes, David Sacks' net worth in 2025 is believed to be above $250 million. But, keep in mind that this amount is subject to change as per the technological market changes and the value of his overall investments.
What’s interesting here is that Sacks has earned this whopping net worth (or probably higher) through a combination of entrepreneurship and managerial positions in different firms we mentioned earlier, including Facebook, Twitter, SpaceX, etc.
Now, most of these companies have maintained their global position (if not further expanded). This makes it even more difficult to determine Sacks' exact net worth based on the revenue he generates through different investments.
But what's certain is that this net worth will continue to increase substantially over time. After all, considering David Sacks' entrepreneurial spirit and flair for recognizing lucrative opportunities, there's no doubt he will continue to be a major figure in the tech industry in the coming years.
Philanthropy and Personal Investments
Now, like most wealthy individuals worldwide, David Sacks has also added multiple philanthropic endeavors under his name. This, of course, means all his wealth doesn't just go on to get doubled through smart investments but also gets used for charitable causes.
Speaking of which, David's perspective of leaving a positive impact on the world isn't just visible through his participation and investments in notable tech companies and startups. But instead, it is also visible through his donations worth millions of dollars over the years. Specifically, David focuses on donating his wealth to the healthcare, educational, and environmental sustainability sectors.
David donates most of his fortune to organizations like the Sacks Family Foundation and Craft Ventures. While Craft Ventures is his venture capital firm, the Sacks Family Foundation contributes to Texas-based organizations. This includes various organizations focusing on education, performing arts, fine arts, amateur sports, and preventing animal and child cruelty.
Adding more to his investments, David has also contributed a fair share of his wealth towards real estate, precious metals, and cryptocurrencies.
Influence on Silicon Valley and Tech Startups
Thanks to his endless success stories at various companies in the tech world, David Sacks holds great influence as a leader and investor. Now, you might wonder how David made it possible. Well, after spending years understanding what and how to make innovative ideas work in the ever-evolving tech world, Sacks earned a sharp eye for new ideas and emerging technologies.
This has helped him uncover and promote various game-changing businesses over the last two decades. Additionally, Sacks also advocated for a "founder-friendly" approach to venture finance, which prioritizes founders' interests more than that of investors.
All of these factors illustrate why David is an ideal investor for any emerging tech startup with ambitions for significant success. This demonstrates Sacks' influence on the hub and startup ecosystem for high-tech innovation, Silicon Valley, and the entire tech industry.
Conclusion
From being a COO of PayPal to the co-founder of Yammer and investing in endless tech startups, real estate, precious metals, and even cryptocurrency, David Sacks has created a strong ground for himself in the tech industry. This proves why he is known to be one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the IT sector. With his keen eye for innovation and founder-friendly approach to venture finance, David Sacks continues to shape the tech landscape and remains a sought-after investor in Silicon Valley and beyond.
Now, although we can’t determine his exact network, his active involvement in the IT industry proves that it will continue to rise exponentially over time.