Who is DeSantis donor, Twitter convo moderator David Sacks?
A photo of Twitter owner Elon Musk’s profile. (Photo by Davide Bonaldo / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)
Davide Bonaldo / SOPA Images/Sip
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday evening joined Twitter owner Elon Musk in an audio-only conversation on the social media site to announce his campaign for president. The virtual event was moderated by tech investor David Sacks.
DeSantis had filed paperwork to run for president earlier in the day and chose a Twitter Space conversation hosted by Musk to personally announce his bid for the Republican nomination.
READ MORE: So Ron DeSantis is running for president. Here are 5 things you should know about him
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The start of the online event was marred by technical glitches. After they were resolved, the conversation turned to questions about the governor’s policies in Florida.
Here are three things to know about Sacks.
1. He’s a podcast host and entrepreneur
While well-known in Silicon Valley, Sacks is far from a household name. An entrepreneur and investor, he co-hosts the podcast “All In,” which focuses on economics, tech, politics, society and poker.
In 2017, Sacks co-founded venture capital firm Craft Ventures. He has previously served as the chief operating officer of PayPal and CEO of Yammer, an enterprise social networking service that was sold to Microsoft in 2012.
Sacks was an angel investor in Facebook, Uber, Airbnb and SpaceX, which was founded by Musk.
2. He’s known Elon Musk for decades
Sacks and Musk, who are both from South Africa, have known each other since the ‘90s. They were both part of the “PayPal Mafia,” a group of PayPal employees and executives who later founded successful tech companies.
3. He donates to political candidates
Over the years, Sacks has donated to both Republican and Democratic candidates — though in recent years he has become a regular in conservative circles.
He hosted a fundraiser for DeSantis in San Francisco in 2021 and has become a major contributor to Republican politicians such as Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.
In 2012, Sacks donated $50,000 to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. He later gave Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton about $70,000 during the 2016 election cycle.
The New Republic reports that Sacks has used his wealth to unite people across the political spectrum against “wokeness” and liberalism.
