Salesforce CEO and Time magazine owner Marc Benioff joined a chorus of tech-sector attacks on the New York Times on Sunday over a story focused on Silicon Valley investor David Sacks’ apparent ethical conflicts in his role as the White House’s AI and crypto czar, claiming the story amounted to near “strategic sabotage.”
“The NYT distortion of [David Sacks’] leadership in AI, Crypto & Quantum isn’t journalism — it’s almost strategic sabotage,” Benioff wrote. “While American’s [sic] bicker, our rivals are studying David’s every move. I’ve known David for decades, and I’ve never seen him sharper or more necessary. We need to remember, America wins the century by elevating builders, not tearing them down. David, let’s win this.”
The five-person bylined story, titled “Silicon Valley’s Man in the White House Is Benefiting Himself and His Friends,” found that Sacks’ role in Washington has him influencing policy that affects his own tech investments and those of his friends.
A Times spokesperson said in a statement that the paper’s reporting on Sacks embodies its mission to cover “powerful figures who influence financial and industrial policies that affect millions of Americans.”
Our reporters do not have an agenda — they examine leads, verify them in good faith with the subjects involved, and publish what we confirm. That’s exactly what happened here,” the spokesperson said. “We remain confident in our reporting on Mr. Sacks, an important and influential member of the Administration. The Times’s article documents the ethical complexities and intertwined interests of his dual roles as a government advisor and a major investor.”
Benioff and Sacks are longtime friends. The former has appeared on the latter’s popular podcast, “All-In,” and he lavished praise on the tech investor during Salesforce’s “Dreamforce” conference in October, where Sacks appeared as a special guest.
“It’s hard to believe everything that you’ve accomplished in just 12 months now,” he said at the time.
Sacks himself labeled the piece part of the “NYT’S HOAX FACTORY” in a lengthy X post on Sunday. He said he hired the law firm Clare Locke to send a warning letter to the paper over elements of its reporting, in which the lawyers admitted the story took five months to report.
