Quick Info
| Profession | Businessman, Entrepreneur, Investor, Politician |
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| Nationality | South African-American |
| Date of Birth | 25/05/1972 |
| Age | 53 years |
| Birthplace | Cape Town, South Africa |
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Bio/Wiki
| Summary | South African-American businessman and investor who co-founded Craft Ventures and served as COO and product leader at PayPal. Founded Yammer, an enterprise social networking platform acquired by Microsoft for $1.2 billion in 2012. Currently serves as Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology since 2025, and was appointed White House AI and crypto czar in December 2024. |
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Educational Qualification(s)
| Undergraduate | Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Stanford University (1994) |
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| Graduate | Juris Doctor, University of Chicago Law School (1998) |
| Secondary | Memphis University School |
Personal Life
| Family Background | Born to a Jewish family in Cape Town, South Africa. Relocated to the United States at age five, settling in Memphis, Tennessee. Inspired by his entrepreneurial grandfather who founded a candy factory. |
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Family
| Birthplace of Family | Cape Town, South Africa |
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Career
| 1999-2002 | Joined Confinity (later renamed PayPal) as first product leader and Chief Operating Officer. Played pivotal role in transforming PayPal into a global leader in online payments. PayPal IPO in 2002. |
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| 2006-2012 | Founded Geni.com and incubated Yammer. As Founder and CEO of Yammer, grew the company to approximately $60 million in sales and 500 employees, with over eight million enterprise users. Yammer acquired by Microsoft in 2012 for $1.2 billion. |
| Served as interim CEO of Zenefits for ten months. | |
| Co-founded Craft Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund. | |
| Angel Investments | Facebook, Uber, SpaceX, Palantir Technologies, Airbnb, and more than 20 unicorns including Slack. |
| Developed and produced the biopic 'DalÃland' about artist Salvador DalÃ. | |
| Appointed White House AI and crypto czar by President Donald Trump in December 2024. | |
| Became Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. | |
Some Lesser Known Facts
| 1. Member of the 'PayPal Mafia,' a group of PayPal alumni who became influential figures in Silicon Valley | |
| 2. Pioneer of 'Bottom-Up SaaS' approach combining product-led growth with B2B sales | |
| 3. Yammer was one of the first SaaS startups to apply consumer growth tactics to enterprise software | |
| 4. Co-founder of All-In Podcast |