Author: openjargon

The official diamond award was unveiled by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1999. In the years since, it has been bestowed sparingly — if a song has moved at least 10 million equivalent units by combining sales and streaming numbers, and if an artist or label requests certification.

Justin Bieber's "Baby" was only the second song in history to be certified diamond on May 9, 2013.

Bieber received a second diamond certification in 2018 as a featured artist on "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee.

His third award was bestowed in 2021 for his smash hit "Sorry." He earned his fourth in 2023 for "Stay," a duet with The Kid LAROI.

Eminem's "Not Afraid" was the third song in history to be certified diamond on June 10, 2014. 

"Lose Yourself" and "Love the Way You Lie" both received the award in 2018.

Lady Gaga received two diamond certifications in 2015 for "Bad Romance" and "Poker Face."

She added a third to her collection in 2023 with "Just Dance."

Imagine Dragons has four diamond-certified songs, the most of any band in history.

"Radioactive" earned the band's first diamond award on July 6, 2015. It was followed by "Demons" and "Believer" in 2021, and finally "Thunder" in 2022.

Bruno Mars has six diamond-certified songs, the third-most of any artist in history: "Uptown Funk," "Just the Way You Are," "Grenade," "That's What I Like," "When I Was Your Man," and "Locked Out of Heaven."

Katy Perry earned her first diamond certification for "Roar" on June 22, 2017.

She received two more in 2018 for "Firework" and "Dark Horse." Her fourth award was bestowed in 2023 for "California Gurls" featuring Snoop Dogg.

Perry added two more in 2024 for "E.T." and "Teenage Dream," bringing her grand total to six. She is tied with Bruno Mars for the third-most in history, trailing Rihanna for the most among women.

Perry's "Teenage Dream" is also the first and only album in history with four diamond songs on its tracklist. 

Pharrell earned a diamond certification in 2018 as a featured artist on Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," which he also cowrote and produced.

His hit single "Happy" received the award in 2020.

Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" was certified diamond on October 10, 2018.

The country duo received a second award in 2020 as a featured artist on Bebe Rexha's "Meant to Be."

Ed Sheeran received three diamond certifications in 2019 for "Shape of You," "Thinking Out Loud," and "Perfect."

With seven diamond-certified songs to his name, The Weeknd is tied with Rihanna for the second-most in history.

The Canadian singer earned his first diamond certification for "The Hills" on June 28, 2019. He received three more in 2022 for "Blinding Lights," "Starboy," and "Can't Feel My Face."

His fifth certification came in February 2023 for "Earned It," the lead single from the "Fifty Shades of Grey" film soundtrack.

Finally, "Save Your Tears" and "Die For You" were both certified diamond on June 20, 2024.

Drake's "God's Plan" was certified diamond in 2019.

The rapper received a second diamond certification in 2020 as a featured artist on Travis Scott's "Sicko Mode," and a third in 2021 as a featured artist on Future's "Life Is Good."

He added two more in 2022 for "Hotline Bling" and "One Dance," bringing his grand total to five.

Drake holds fourth place for the most diamond songs in history.

Post Malone holds the record for the most diamond-certified songs with nine to his name. He earned his first in 2019 for "Congratulations."

He received two more awards in 2020 (for "Rockstar" and "Sunflower") and an additional two in 2022 (for "White Iverson" and "Psycho" featuring Ty Dolla $ign).

He added three more to his collection in 2023 with "Better Now," "I Fall Apart," and "Circles."

Finally, in 2024, Malone's hit single "Wow." became his milestone ninth diamond-certified song.

In 2021, Cardi B became the first female rapper in history to have a diamond-certified single with "Bodak Yellow."

Later that year, she received a second award as a featured artist on Maroon 5's "Girls Like You" and a third for her single "I Like It."

Maroon 5 earned two diamond certifications in 2021 for "Moves Like Jagger" and "Girls Like You."

The band's third award was bestowed in 2022 for "Sugar."

The Chainsmokers' hit collaboration with Halsey, "Closer," was certified diamond on September 17, 2018.

The EDM duo received two more awards in 2022 for "Don't Let Me Down" featuring Daya and "Something Just Like This" featuring Coldplay.

Twenty One Pilots received their first diamond award in 2021 for "Stressed Out."

The following year, they received a second for "Heathens," the lead single from the soundtrack of the DC Comics film "Suicide Squad."

Swae Lee earned a diamond certification in 2020 for "Sunflower," a collaboration with Post Malone for "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse."

He received a second award in 2022 as a featured artist on French Montana's "Unforgettable."

Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and "Thriller" were both certified diamond on August 29, 2022, nearly 40 years after their release.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis earned their first diamond certification in 2015 for "Thrift Shop" featuring Wanz.

Seven years later, the duo earned a second for "Can't Hold Us" featuring Ray Dalton.

Halsey received her first diamond certification in 2018 as a featured artist on "Closer" by The Chainsmokers.

Her solo smash hit "Without Me" was the milestone 100th song to receive the award on February 1, 2023.

Rihanna earned her first diamond certification in 2018 as a featured artist on Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie."

She received her second in 2023 for "We Found Love," her smash collaboration with Calvin Harris, and her third in 2024 for "Diamonds."

On May 31, 2024, Rihanna collected four more diamond plaques for "Needed Me," "Work," "Umbrella," and "Stay," setting a record for the most among female artists. She now has seven diamond singles, sitting in second place behind Post Malone.

Kanye West, who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021, received his first diamond certification that same year for "Stronger."

His second award was bestowed in 2023 for "Ni**as in Paris," a single from his joint album with Jay-Z, "Watch the Throne."

XXXTentacion, who was killed in 2018, earned a posthumous diamond certification in 2021 for his No. 1 single "Sad!"

He received a second award in 2023 for "Fuck Love" featuring Trippie Redd.

Khalid earned his first diamond certification for "Location" on March 3, 2022. The following year, he received another for "Young Dumb & Broke."

Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" was certified diamond on November 9, 2021, a decade after its groundbreaking release.

The rapper received her second award in 2024 for "Bang Bang," the hit collaboration with Jessie J and Ariana Grande.

"Something About the Way You Look Tonight / Candle in the Wind" became the first-ever song to be certified diamond on October 9, 1997.

In fact, it received the certification two years before the official diamond award was unveiled by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In the years since then, it has been bestowed sparingly — only if a song has moved at least 10 million equivalent units by combining sales and streaming numbers.

Crucially, an artist or label must also request certification through an application process, which can lead to a delay in updated sales figures.

"Baby" was certified diamond on May 9, 2013.

"Not Afraid" was certified diamond on June 10, 2014.

"Bad Romance" was certified diamond on May 29, 2015.

"Radioactive" was certified diamond on July 6, 2015.

"Thrift Shop" was certified diamond on November 19, 2015.

"Poker Face" was certified diamond on November 30, 2015.

"Call Me Maybe" was certified diamond on September 28, 2016.

"Uptown Funk" was certified diamond on October 18, 2016.

"Roar" was certified diamond on June 22, 2017.

"Royals" was certified diamond on December 8, 2017.

"All About That Bass" was certified diamond on January 23, 2018.

"Despacito" was certified diamond on January 27, 2018.

"Firework" was certified diamond on February 13, 2018.

"Lose Yourself" was certified diamond on February 28, 2018.

"Love the Way You Lie" was certified diamond on February 28, 2018.

"Blurred Lines" was certified diamond on June 6, 2018.

"I Gotta Feeling" was certified diamond on June 6, 2018.

"Party Rock Anthem" was certified diamond on June 6, 2018.

"Counting Stars" was certified diamond on August 20, 2018.

"Closer" was certified diamond on September 17, 2018.

"Cruise" was certified diamond on October 10, 2018.

"Dark Horse" was certified diamond on December 12, 2018.

"Just the Way You Are" was certified diamond on January 11, 2019.

"Shape of You" was certified diamond on January 24, 2019.

"Thinking Out Loud" was certified diamond on February 8, 2019.

"We Are Young" was certified diamond on June 13, 2019.

"I'm Yours" was certified diamond on June 24, 2019.

"The Hills" was certified diamond on June 28, 2019.

"See You Again" was certified diamond on September 24, 2019.

"God's Plan" was certified diamond on September 25, 2019.

"Congratulations" was certified diamond on October 8, 2019.

"Old Town Road" is the fastest song in history to be certified diamond. It received the honor on October 22, 2019, less than one year after its original release.

"Trap Queen" was certified diamond on November 8, 2019.

"Perfect" was certified diamond on December 20, 2019.

"Shake It Off" was certified diamond on March 13, 2020, making Swift the first female artist in US history to have both a diamond-certified single and album (2008's "Fearless").

"Happy" was certified diamond on May 6, 2020.

"Meant to Be" was certified diamond on August 17, 2020.

"Grenade" was certified diamond on October 2, 2020.

"Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People was certified diamond on October 13, 2020.

"All of Me" was certified diamond on October 13, 2020.

"Baby Shark" was certified diamond on November 5, 2020.

"Rockstar" was certified diamond on November 9, 2020.

"Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)" was certified diamond on November 9, 2020.

"Stay With Me" was certified diamond on November 12, 2020.

"Party in the U.S.A." was certified diamond on December 7, 2020.

"Sicko Mode" was certified diamond on December 9, 2020.

"Bodak Yellow" was certified diamond on March 8, 2021, making Cardi B the first female rapper in history to have a diamond-certified single.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" was certified diamond on March 25, 2021.

"Sorry" was certified diamond on March 29, 2021.

"Hey, Soul Sister" was certified diamond on April 7, 2021.

"Low" was certified diamond on April 22, 2021.

"Stressed Out" was certified diamond on April 30, 2021.

"Somebody That I Used to Know" was certified diamond on May 6, 2021.

"That's What I Like" was certified diamond on May 21, 2021.

"When I Was Your Man" was certified diamond on May 21, 2021, making Mars the first artist in history with five diamond-certified songs.

"Sail" was certified diamond on June 14, 2021.

"Moves Like Jagger" was certified diamond on July 1, 2021.

"Sad!" was certified diamond on August 13, 2021.

"Demons" was certified diamond on August 31, 2021.

"Believer" was certified diamond on August 31, 2021.

"Lean On" was certified diamond on September 17, 2021.

"Havana" was certified diamond on October 4, 2021.

"Stronger" was certified diamond on October 6, 2021.

"Super Bass" was certified diamond on November 9, 2021.

"Life Is Good" was certified diamond on November 22, 2021.

"Girls Like You" was certified diamond on November 29, 2021.

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" was certified diamond on December 3, 2021.

"The Box" was certified diamond on December 6, 2021.

"I Like It" was certified diamond on December 13, 2021.

"Tennessee Whiskey" was certified diamond on December 14, 2021.

"Sugar" was certified diamond on January 11, 2022.

It marks Maroon 5's third diamond-certified song, putting the band on equal footing with the likes of Eminem, Ed Sheeran, and Cardi B.

"I Will Always Love You" was certified diamond on January 12, 2022.

"Lucid Dreams" was certified diamond on February 4, 2022.

"Location" was certified diamond on March 3, 2022.

"A Thousand Years" was certified diamond on March 3, 2022.

"Blinding Lights" was certified diamond on April 5, 2022.

"Starboy" was certified diamond on April 5, 2022.

"Timber" was certified diamond on June 23, 2022.

"Thunder" was certified diamond on July 7, 2022, marking Imagine Dragon's fourth diamond-certified song.

"Don't Let Me Down" was certified diamond on July 11, 2022.

"Heathens" was certified diamond on July 22, 2022.

"Unforgettable" was certified diamond on August 25, 2022.

"Billie Jean" was certified diamond on August 29, 2022.

"Thriller" was certified diamond on August 29, 2022.

"Drip Too Hard" was certified diamond on September 12, 2022.

"Locked Out of Heaven" was certified diamond on October 1, 2022. Mars now has six diamond-certified songs, the third-most in history.

"Can't Hold Us" was certified diamond on October 14, 2022.

"Wagon Wheel" was certified diamond on October 27, 2022.

"Something Just Like This" was certified diamond on November 2, 2022.

"Psycho" was certified diamond on November 14, 2022.

"White Iverson" was certified diamond on November 14, 2022.

"Can't Feel My Face" was certified diamond on December 6, 2022.

"Hotline Bling" was certified diamond on December 8, 2022.

"One Dance" was certified diamond on December 8, 2022, becoming Drake's fifth diamond-certified song.

He's in fourth place for the most in history, trailing Post Malone (nine), Rihanna (seven), The Weeknd (seven), Bruno Mars (six), and Katy Perry (six).

"Lollipop" was certified diamond on December 14, 2022.

"Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)" was certified diamond on December 15, 2022.

"XO Tour Llif3" was certified diamond on December 7, 2022.

"Fireflies" was certified diamond on January 25, 2023. It's also one of the few solo-written songs from this century to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Without Me" was certified diamond on February 1, 2023.

"Say You Won't Let Go" was certified diamond on February 15, 2023.

"Earned It" was certified diamond on February 16, 2023.

Although it was released as the lead single from the "Fifty Shades of Grey" film soundtrack, "Earned It" was also included on The Weeknd's sophomore studio album "Beauty Behind the Madness" — the first album in history to have three diamond-certified songs on its tracklist.

"Take Me to Church" was certified diamond on March 15, 2023.

"Just Dance" was certified diamond on April 12, 2023.

"Need You Now" was certified diamond on April 17, 2023.

"Sweater Weather" was certified diamond on April 19, 2023.

"Better Now" was certified diamond on April 20, 2023.

"I Fall Apart" was certified diamond on April 20, 2023.

"Circles" was certified diamond on April 20, 2023.

"We Found Love" was certified diamond on April 27, 2023.

"Beautiful Crazy" was certified diamond on June 12, 2023.

"Ni**as in Paris" was certified diamond on June 12, 2023.

"Wake Me Up" was certified diamond on June 16, 2023.

"Fuck Love" was certified diamond on June 18, 2023.

"California Gurls" was certified diamond on June 21, 2023.

"Stay" was certified diamond on June 23, 2023.

The hit collaboration marks Bieber's fourth diamond single, tying Perry for fifth place among all artists.

"No Hands" was certified diamond on July 20, 2023.

"Riptide" was certified diamond on July 27, 2023.

"Bad Guy" was certified diamond on July 31, 2023.

"Body Like a Back Road" was certified diamond on August 1, 2023.

"In da Club" was certified diamond on November 1, 2023.

"Levitating" was certified diamond on November 6, 2023.

"Someone You Loved" was certified diamond on November 8, 2023.

"Young Dumb & Broke" was certified diamond on December 6, 2023.

"Heaven" was certified diamond on December 7, 2023.

"Mr. Brightside" was certified diamond on January 12, 2024.

"Don't Stop Believin'" was certified diamond on January 26, 2024.

"Yeah!" was certified diamond on February 9, 2024.

"In The End" was certified diamond on February 27, 2024.

"In Case You Didn't Know" was certified diamond on March 19, 2024.

"Diamonds" was certified diamond on April 22, 2024.

"Wow." was certified diamond on April 23, 2024, becoming Post Malone's ninth diamond single.

Malone holds the record for the most among any artist in history.

"Let It Go" was certified diamond on May 13, 2024.

"Bang Bang" was certified diamond on May 23, 2024.

"Needed Me" was certified diamond on May 31, 2024.

"Work" was certified diamond on May 31, 2024. The song was originally released with a Drake feature, but he is not credited for the certification on the RIAA's website.

"Umbrella" was certified diamond on May 31, 2024.

"Stay" was certified diamond on May 31, 2024, becoming Rihanna's seventh diamond single.

She holds the record among female artists, second only to Post Malone for the all-time record — despite her last album being released over eight years ago.

Rihanna reacted to the historic news on X, writing, "ain't no back n forth."

"Give Me Everything" was certified diamond on June 6, 2024.

"Heat Waves" was certified diamond on June 6, 2024.

"Save Your Tears" was certified diamond on June 20, 2024.

"Die For You" was certified diamond on June 20, 2024, becoming The Weeknd's seventh diamond single.

He is now tied with Rihanna for the second-most in history — trailing only Post Malone, who holds the record with nine.

"Drowning" was certified diamond on June 25, 2024.

"E.T." was certified diamond on July 1, 2024.

"Teenage Dream" was certified diamond on July 1, 2024, becoming Katy Perry's sixth diamond single.

She is now tied with Bruno Mars for the third-most in history.

"Teenage Dream" was released as a single from Perry's 2010 album of the same name, along with "Firework," "California Gurls," and "E.T" — the first and only album to have four diamond-certified songs on its tracklist.

"Chandelier" was certified diamond on July 3, 2024.

"Thunderstruck" was certified diamond on July 8, 2024.

Peter Thiel cofounded the company that would become Paypal — called Confinity — in 1999 alongside Max Levchin and Luke Nosek. Confinity was launched as a developer of security software for hand-held devices like the PalmPilot, but it later pivoted toward digital money transfers. 

Thiel served as CEO of PayPal until October 2002, when eBay acquired the company for $1.5 billion. Thiel's 3.7% stake was worth a $55 million, according to SEC filings.

Thiel, now a billionaire with a net worth of over $11 billion, according to Bloomberg, cofounded the big data analysis firm Palantir in 2003. He was the first major outside investor in Facebook and contributed early funding to Yelp and LinkedIn, along with a number of other ventures launched by his PayPal peers. Thiel's also a partner of Founders Fund, a venture capital fund based in San Francisco.

Thiel has also drawn criticism in recent years for his support of President Donald Trump and for secretly funding Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against Gawker Media, which resulted in the company shutting down Gawker and selling the company's assets.

After facilitating talks between Trump and now Sen. JD Vance, Thiel gave a record-breaking $15 million to Vance's campaign, the largest donation ever given to a single senate candidate. 

Thiel later told The Atlantic he was taking a break from politics. Business Insider later reported that he served as an FBI informant.

While his and Trump's relationship has reportedly soured, Trump's recent announcement of Vance as his vice president pick has put Thiel back to playing kingmaker.

Max Levchin is sometimes called the "consigliere" of the PayPal Mafia — in "The Godfather," a consigliere is an advisor to the boss.

Levchin made significant contributions to PayPal's anti-fraud efforts. Together with PayPal technical architect David Gausebeck, he helped create the Gausebeck-Levchin test, an early version of a CAPTCHA for commercial applications.

After PayPal was bought by eBay, Levchin founded a media-sharing service called Slide that was later bought by Google. He was also an early investor in Yelp — at one point he was the company's largest shareholder — and he served as chairman of Yelp from its founding in 2004 until July 2015.

He founded fintech company Affirm, which allows consumers to finance online purchases at the point of sale and pay for them over time. Affirm went public in 2021, raising $1.2 billion in its IPO. Levchin is also the chairman of Glow, a fertility-tracking app that helps users improve their odds of conceiving.

After eBay bought PayPal, Howery stayed on as eBay's director of corporate development until 2003. After PayPal's acquisition, he served as cofounder and partner of Founders Fund alongside Peter Thiel.

He was appointed by former President Trump in January 2019 and confirmed September of that year.

Howery is active in several nonprofits and serves as a founding advisor to Kiva, an organization that facilitates loans to low-income entrepreneurs. Kiva was founded in part by Premal Shah, PayPal's former product manager.

Howery is reportedly still good friends with Elon Musk. 

In 1999, Elon Musk founded a payments company called X.com, which merged with Thiel's Confinity in 2000. He briefly served as CEO of PayPal before he was ousted by the board in September 2000 and replaced with Thiel. But as the company's largest shareholder, he still walked away from the PayPal sale to eBay with a cool $165 million.

Perhaps the most well known of all the members of the PayPal mafia now, Musk's estimated net worth is $270 billion.

Since his PayPal days, Musk has moved on to oversee companies like Tesla, SpaceX, the Boring Company, and Neuralink. He's also bought Twitter and renamed it to X, after buying back the X.com domain name from PayPal. 

Musk is also publicly supporting a presidential candidate for the first time after announcing his endorsement of former President Donald Trump minutes after the assassination attempt at Trump's Pennsylvania rally. The billionaire reportedly plans to pledge $45 million each month to America PAC, which supports Trump.

Nosek was also reportedly the person who clued in Peter Thiel to cryogenic preservation, which Thiel has since invested in heavily.

In 2005, Nosek joined Thiel and Howery as a partner at Founders Fund. In 2017, Nosek left Founders Fund to launch investment firm Gigafund, which helped raise money for SpaceX.

Nosek invested in Musk's SpaceX and was also named a board member. He also joined the board of ResearchGate, a platform where scientists and researchers can ask questions, follow topics, and review one another's papers.

Botha went to school to be an actuary. He said he never planned to get into tech, but when he saw the opportunity in Silicon Valley, his intuition told him it was where he needed to be.

He started as PayPal's director of corporate development, went on to become vice-president of finance, and later served as CFO.

Botha is now considered one of the top tech investors in the world.

Sequoia Capital has has funded tech giants like Apple, Google, YouTube, and Instagram. 

Botha as served on the board at more than a dozen companies, including Square, EventBrite, and Weebly, 23andMe, Tumblr, Instagram, and YouTube.

LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman served on the board of directors when PayPal was founded.

He eventually joined the company full-time as PayPal's COO. In a New York Times interview, Peter Thiel referred to Hoffman as PayPal's "firefighter in chief," noting that there were many fires that needed putting out in the company's early days.

When PayPal was acquired by eBay, Hoffman was the company's executive vice president.

Hoffman was an early investor in Facebook, Flickr, Care.com, and many more. In 2017 he joined the board of Microsoft.

Hoffman has coauthored several books on startups and professional development. He hosts the "Masters of Scale" podcast, on which he interviews founders about how they launched and scaled their companies, and is a partner at VC firm Greylock Partners. He was an early investor in OpenAI and used to serve on its board, and cofounded Inflection AI.

Hoffman has also recently criticized business leaders, including his fellow PayPal mafia members, for supporting Trump.

Like Hoffman, Sacks also served as COO at PayPal. Previously a management consultant for McKinsey & Company, David Sacks joined PayPal in 1999.

After PayPal was bought by eBay, Sacks produced and financed the box office hit "Thank You For Smoking," which would go on to be nominated for two Golden Globes. In 2006 he founded Geni.com, an online tool for building family trees.

In 2016, Sacks was briefly interim CEO at Zenefits, an HR software firm that was plagued by scandal, including allowing unlicensed brokers to sell insurance to its customers. In 2017, Sacks cofounded the early-stage investment firm Craft Ventures. 

Sacks is a serial entrepreneur and investor, with angel investments in Airbnb, Postmates, Slack, and many more. 

He's also still a member of Elon Musk's inner circle and, like the Tesla CEO, has become an avid Trump supporter, hosting a fundraiser for the former president at his home. Sacks reportedly urged Trump personally to choose Vance as his running mate, whom he was introduced to by fellow Paypal mafia member Thiel.

Karim and Chen were engineers, while Hurley was a web designer.

In 2005, the trio launched the video-sharing platform YouTube. Karim uploaded the platform's very first video, "Me at the zoo," an 18-second clip of Karim in front of the San Diego Zoo's elephant exhibit. It's been viewed over 292 million times.

Karim launched venture fund YVentures in 2008, through which he invested in Palantir, Reddit, Eventbrite, and Airbnb.

Hurley stepped down as CEO of YouTube in 2010. Since then, he's backed education startup Uptime and invested in several sports teams.

Chen invested in actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt's musical collaboration platform HitRecord, which in February secured $6.4 million in Series A funding.

McCormack joined PayPal in 2001, working as an assistant to Peter Thiel as the company prepared for its IPO.

In 2003, McCormack started a restaurant group in San Francisco. In 2008, he joined Thiel Capital and worked there for 5 years.

McCormack partnered up with Thiel again in 2010 to found Valar Ventures, a venture capital fund.

Valar Ventures has invested in technology startups well beyond Silicon Valley, including some in Europe and Canada. In August, Crunchbase reported the firm had closed on a $150 million funding round for a new venture capital fund, Valar Fund V.

McCormack continues to serve as a managing partner of the firm.

Entrepreneur Keith Rabois served as PayPal's executive vice president from 2000 to 2002.

He would go on to join his PayPal colleague Reid Hoffman at LinkedIn as its vice president for business and corporate development from 2005 to 2007. He was an early investor in startups like Square, where he spent two-and-a-half years as COO. 

Rabois is the CEO of OpenStore and has served on the board of directors for Yelp, Xoom, and Reddit.

He was a general partner at Founder's Fund, where he cofounded OpenStore, before returning to Khosla Ventures in early 2024.

Simmons was an engineer and Stoppelman was the vice president of technology after joining PayPal from X.com.

In 2004, the pair came up with the idea for a platform where users could leave recommendations about businesses in their area. They pitched the idea to Levchin, who provided an early investment of $1 million, and Yelp was born.

Simmons served as CTO at Yelp from 2004 until he left the role in 2010. Stoppelman is still CEO of Yelp, and has publicly spoken out in support of political issues like women's reproductive rights.

After leaving PayPal, Selby partnered with Thiel to start Clarium Capital Management.

Selby later helped manage Thiel Capital, the Thiel's family office, and started his own venture capital fund, AZ-VC, where he serves as managing partner. He still serves as managing director at Thiel Capital.

Starting in 2013, Selby began anonymously leaving tips for unsuspecting waitstaff, ranging into the thousands, and signing them "Tips for Jesus." His identity was confirmed by a New York City bartender who served him prior to receiving a $5,000 tip.

McClure served PayPal's director of marketing as for four years beginning in 2001.

According to McClure's LinkedIn, he began a program called the PayPal Developer Network, which consisted of about 300,000 developers that were using PayPal. 

He had a brief stint at Founders Fund before launching 500 Startups, an early stage venture fund. McClure stayed at 500 Startups until June 2017, when he was accused of "inappropriate behavior with women" in a New York Times report and stepped down from his role at the firm, writing an apology post titled "I'm a creep. I'm sorry."

He's since become an investor and owner in a professional sports league for ultimate frisbee and cofounded Practical Venture Capital, according to his LinkedIn.

• Yishan Wong was an engineering manager who later served as CEO of Reddit from 2011 to 2014.
• Jason Portnoy worked in finance at PayPal, and went on to work at Clarium Capital and Palantir. He's now a partner at VC firm Oakhouse Partners. 
• Premal Shah was a product manager at PayPal beginning in 2000, then went on to work at technology nonprofit Kiva. He's now president at financial-services startup Branch. 
• David Gausebeck was a technical architect at PayPal. Now, he serves as chief scientist at 3D modeling company Matterport.
• Joe Lonsdale started his career as a finance intern at PayPal before moving into venture capital — he's worked at VC firms Clarium Capital, Formation 8, and 8VC. Lonsdale also cofounded Palantir, and has reportedly contributed to a Trump PAC.
• Eric Jackson was director of marketing at PayPal and went on to write a book about the company called "The PayPal Wars." He's currently the CEO of CapLinked. 

I had the option to check a bag, but I decided to keep all my belongings with me throughout the trip.

I packed comfy pants and shorts since I was traveling south to warmer temperatures. 

I brought a Nintendo Switch, a tablet, and a book to pass the time. I made sure to download a bunch of podcast episodes to my phone in case I lost service and internet at any point during the trip.

Even though Amtrak sanitizes rooms between visitors, according to its website, bringing my own disinfectant gave me peace of mind and made me feel more comfortable relaxing in my rooms.

This packing tip comes from my mom. She always brought some sort of immunity-boosting chewable to protect us from germs while traveling. And as Business Insider previously reported, Vitamin C can help your immune system fight off some infections.

I picked up these memory foam babies at T.J. Maxx for only $20. They slipped on and off very easily, which was great for leaving my room quickly with shoes on.

I took frequent dance breaks in my room, where I closed the curtains and blasted music in my ears. This, of course, required a pair of headphones. 

While I danced throughout the day, I was glad I could listen to music as loudly as I wanted without bothering my neighbors.

In some roomettes (mine included), a side table swings open to reveal a toilet. Above, there's a folding sink and mirror. 

I may have had a bigger problem with having a toilet so close to my bed, but thankfully, I had packed some Poo Pourri, a spray that goes in the toilet just before you poop to eliminate odors.

I thought many of my meals on the train were decent, but there were times, like when I tried and disliked a salmon dish, that I was thankful for this bag of trail mix with my favorite ingredient, coconut chips.

An Amtrak attendant brought me disposable water bottles every few hours, but I was still glad I brought my own pre-filled water bottle.

But my bottle was too wide for the provided cupholders, which were just big enough for 12-ounce bottles. So, I wish I had brought a smaller reusable water bottle.

I figured this would only be temporary, but I thought the whole ride was shaky. I ended up feeling motion sickness for the majority of both trips and kicking myself for not bringing any remedies.

I planned on showering during my 30-hour ride home from Miami, but I decided not to when I realized I had forgotten my flip-flops. I usually wear them in public showers, since experts told BI that it's pretty easy to pick up germs from places where many people have walked barefoot.

I only saw a couple of sets of outlets in the rooms. With several devices to plug in, I should have brought an outlet splitter or two. 

I could have sworn I packed this and was so disappointed when I wanted to use it.

This specific neck pillow wraps around 1.5 times, making adjusting to various long-term sitting situations easy. 

The bed on the Amtrak was firm and slightly cushy on top, just the way I like a bed. But when I was drifting off to sleep each night, I thought of my fluffy, dense, soft pillows at home. 

"I am very lucky," Iger told Laurene Powell Jobs at The Atlantic Festival in Washington in 2019. "I was a lower middle class kid or middle class. My father had manic depression so he had trouble holding a job. I started as a $150-a-week employee at ABC 45 years ago and rose up to be CEO of this company. It is a great story, but it is not necessarily because I was extraordinary."

At Ithaca College, Iger hosted a campus television show called "Campus Probe." He graduated originally wanting to be a news anchor and briefly worked as a local weatherman in Ithaca, New York.

Iger wrote in his book that he got his first job at ABC because of his uncle, who was in the hospital for eye surgery. His uncle was in the room next to someone who claimed to be a top executive at ABC, who said he would give the younger Iger a job.

Iger took the "top executive" up on his offer, though he quickly realized that the person was not a "top executive" but instead a lower-level one. Still, the person ran a small department at ABC known as Production Services and was able to secure Iger an interview with the department.

At age 23, Iger was brought on as a "studio supervisor."

Iger has said that one of his bosses accused Iger of spreading rumors about him, causing the young Iger to almost be fired.

"He told me I wasn't promotable and I had two weeks to find another job somewhere in the company or I was gone," Iger recalled at the UCLA Awards Gala in 2013. "Fortunately, I was able to find another job in the company. They didn't think I wasn't promotable, I guess."

Iger wrote in his book that Arledge was the person who taught him the mantra which would follow Iger for the rest of his life: "Innovate or die."

ABC was later sold to Capital Cities Communications for $3.5 billion in a deal finalized in 1986.

Iger wrote in his memoir that the constant traveling put strain on his first marriage, to Kathleen Susan. Eventually, the two divorced. They have two daughters.

The critically-acclaimed series was cancelled after two seasons, but Iger wrote in his book that the risk he took putting it on television caught the attention of other famed directors such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. 

Iger and Lucas then developed a show based on the Indiana Jones franchise, which was cancelled after two seasons. But, Iger wrote in his book, Lucas never forgot the risk Iger took on his show, and he remembered it years later when he decided to sell Lucasfilm to Disney.

 When Burke retired, Iger was tapped to replace him as president and COO of Capital Cities/ABC.

Iger and Bay became engaged in 1995. But after Disney agreed to buy Capital Cities/ABC that same year, Iger had quick decisions to make.

At that time, he wrote in his memoir, he had been commuting weekly to Los Angeles to meet his new Disney colleagues. He knew that after the acquisition was approved, he and Bay would not have much time to honeymoon. So, they quickly married later that same year.

"Willow and I also knew we'd have no chance for a honeymoon once the deal closed," he wrote. "We radically shortened our engagement and got married in early October 1995."

They are still married and have two children together.

Iger wrote in his memoir that he heavily considered walking away from Disney at this point. But as part of the Disney-ABC merger, Iger agreed to run a media division at Disney for five years.

Forbes reported that between 1994 and 1999, Eisner made $631 million. In the year 1997 alone, Eisner reportedly made more than $550 million. Over the years, Eisner invested his Disney money and became a billionaire by 2008 — perhaps predicting a financial path Iger may follow.

Iger wrote in his book that, despite being the COO and thereby second in command behind Eisner, his promotion to CEO was not a guarantee. If anything, he wrote, many had associated him with the turbulence of Eisner's era and wanted an outsider for the job. Iger said he campaigned for months until he was officially named CEO in 2005. 

Forbes reported in 2019 that in his first year as CEO, Iger made $22 million, a salary which did not include the stock options worth $2.9 million.

Before he officially became the CEO of Disney, he called to inform Steve Jobs — who was the majority shareholder in Pixar — that he was being appointed CEO and shared his hope they could discuss working together in the future. From there, the two began to slowly work on repairing the fraught relationship between the two companies. 

Iger wrote in his memoir that he felt Disney needed Pixar to help enter the future of animation. Pixar at the time was using technologies to produce content that had never been seen before, Iger wrote in his book.

Iger wanted Disney to be in on it — not just as a distributor for the films, as their previous agreement had stated, but to actually own what Pixar was bringing to the table.

Iger wrote in his book that the two companies were able to come together after he reached out to Jobs to forge a friendship and address any issues between the two companies. 

Iger and Jobs would go on to have a long friendship until Jobs passed away in 2011. A month after Jobs died, Iger joined the Apple board, where he remained until he stepped down in 2019 ahead of launching Disney+.

Iger wrote that part of the reason Marvel CEO Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter was willing to sell the company was because Jobs called Perlmutter to "vouch for" Iger and praised how Iger had handled the Disney-Pixar merger.

Iger said that he knew Lucas was nervous to sell Lucasfim to Disney — mostly because the "Star Wars" creator knew he would be selling his legacy along with it. But eventually, Lucas warmed up to the idea.

Lucas enlisted Kathleen Kennedy to lead Lucasfilm right before the company was sold to Disney. The first Star Wars film made without Lucas was released a few years later, in 2015 — "The Force Awakens," directed by J.J. Abrams.

Forbes reported in 2019 that, if Murdoch were to cash in all stock available to him from the Disney deal, he'd own about $10.5 billion worth of Disney stock. In addition, Variety reported that collectively, the Murdoch family members were "the largest individual shareholders in Disney."

Iger wrote in his memoir that Murdoch selling the company he had built from scratch was an indicator that the "disruption" threatening the entertainment industry was now inevitable. 

"As [Rupert Murdoch] pondered the future of his company in such a disrupted world, he concluded the smartest thing to do was to sell and give his shareholders and his family a chance to convert its 21st Century Fox stock into Disney stock, believing we were better positioned to withstand the change and, combined, we'd be even stronger," Iger wrote in his book. 

This move made Disney the second-largest media company in the world at the time, Forbes reported.

"In a year when the tide has shifted against Big Business, Big Media and Big Tech, Iger has transformed his enormous media company into a gargantuan media and tech business while ensuring that the Walt Disney Co.'s products remain widely beloved," Belinda Luscombe wrote in Time's profile of him. "But for now, for just this moment, Iger is unassailable. He's transformed his company from a stuffy media doyen into a sexy cultural force."

Other inductees that year included the likes of Seth MacFarlane and Cicely Tyson.

Iger was replaced by Bob Chapek, former chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Product. Iger would forgo his entire salary for the year, and Chapek would similarly take a 50% salary cut amid potential multibillion-dollar revenue losses due to the coronavirus pandemic, Business Insider's Ashley Rodriguez reported.

In November 2022, Disney made the shocking announcement that Iger was back to lead the company for two years, during which he'd work with the board to find a successor.

However, Disney's board in 2023 voted to extend his contract to the end of 2026.

Forbes reported at the time that Iger's net worth was actually higher than that of Abigail Disney, the Disney heiress, who said in 2019 that she was worth about $120 million.

In March 2020, it was announced that Iger would forgo his salary for the year, as Disney dealt with presumed multibillion-dollar losses due to the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent shutdowns. His base salary was $3 million in the previous fiscal year and he made $47.5 million in total compensation.

During his first stint as CEO, Iger grew Disney's profits 335% to $260 billion, Business Insider reported.

Forbes also reports that under Iger, Disney created more than 70,000 new jobs. 

"Literally, I have never heard one person say a bad thing about him and I have never seen him be mean," billionaire David Geffen told The New York Times in a profile on Iger. "To be honorable, decent, smart, successful, and a terrific guy is unusual anywhere. But it is most unusual in the entertainment business. He's in a category of one."

Forbes reported that that Iger's fortune is split between his Disney shares "and cash or other investment from sales of Disney shares over the decades."

According to Forbes, Iger was compensated $65.6 million in 2018, which was 1,424 times the average Disney employee's salary. He had been given another $26.3 million in stock after he successfully closed the Disney-Fox merger and for agreeing to extend his contract until 2021. His initial compensation in 2018 was $39.3 million (not including stock rewards).

In April 2019, Abigail Disney publicly criticized Iger's high pay on Twitter and later wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post elaborating on her thoughts. 

"I'm not arguing that Iger and others do not deserve bonuses. They do," Disney wrote. "They have led the company brilliantly. I am saying that the people who contribute to its success also deserve a share of the profits they have helped make happen."

Most recently, Iger received $31.6 million in total compensation in 2023, or 595 times what the median Disney employee makes.

He and his wife bought a home in Brentwood, California, in 2006 from actress Michelle Pfeiffer for about $19 million, the Orlando Sentinel reported that year.

The home reportedly was 7,500 square feet and had five bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a guest house, a tennis court, and a pool. As of a 2018 interview with Vogue, Iger was still living in Brentwood with his wife and their two children.

The Igers' former home has a library, living room views of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park, and four bedrooms, including one master suite with two bathrooms and a walk-in closet.

Iger has also said that he doesn't eat carbs unless it's pizza, recalling that during his high school years, he worked at his local Pizza Hut.

He has a 180-foot superyacht called Aquarius, which he wrote about in Vanity Fair in 2014.

He's also having another built, expected to be 30 feet longer, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Variety reports that in 2019, Iger attended the conference along with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Shari Redstone, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, and even former Democratic presidential candidate John Hickenlooper.

The scholarship was funded through the proceeds from Iger's memoir.

"We vacationed at adjacent Hawaiian hotels a few times and would meet and take long walks on the beach, talking about our wives and kids, about music, about Apple and Disney and the things we might still do together," he wrote in his book. "You don't expect to develop such close friendships late in life, but when I think back on my time as CEO — at the things I'm most grateful for and surprised by — my relationship with Steve is one of them."

Geffen owns a megayacht, known to be a common hang-out spot for celebrities and fellow billionaires, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, during the summer months, as seen on his Instagram page.

The yacht is worth $590 million, as previously reported by Business Insider.

"I'll tell you the truth, this is not really where I intended to be tonight," Winfrey said at the Centennial Awards, where Iger was being honored, in 2019. "I was hoping that by this time in early fall, I would be knocking on doors in Des Moines, wearing an 'Iger 2020' T-shirt. Because I really do believe that Bob Iger's guidance and decency is exactly what the country needs right now."

After Comcast bought Dreamworks in 2016 for $3.8 billion, Katzenberg's net worth rose to $900 million. 

Iger and Katzenberg have been friends for years, and Katzenberg is among the group of people who tried to encourage the Disney CEO to run for president.

"No matter how much I begged Bob," Katzenberg said while presenting the Simon Wiesenthal Center Humanitarian Award to Iger in 2019. "He just wasn't willing to run for president of the United States."

"I think the Democratic Party would brand me as just another rich guy who's out of touch with America who doesn't have any sense for what's good for the plight of the people," he told The New York Times in a 2019 profile.

Despite many people — including some major Hollywood players — urging him to run for president in late 2019, Iger publicly remained firm that he had no plans to pursue a presidential campaign.

Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum was a business council created to hear the perspectives of different leaders on how to improve job growth in the US. 

Iger announced his resignation from the council in a tweet stating: "As a matter of principle, I've resigned from the President's Council over the #Paris Agreement withdrawal." 

The council, which ultimately disbanded, also included JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, and Stephen A. Schwarzman, the cofounder of private equity firm Blackstone.

"America is gravely in need of optimism, of looking at the future and believing that so many things are going to be all right, or that we as a nation can attack some of the most critical problems of our day," Iger said at The Atlantic Festival in Washington in 2019. "And that could be the environment, that could be income disparity, that could be the technology's impact on the world from a disruption perspective. It could be the cost of education, availability of affordable housing, healthcare. You name it."

In 2020, Iger announced his plans to retire at the end of his contract term, though the coronavirus pandemic derailed his plan. Disney's board extended Iger's term as chairman to the end of 2021. At the end of his term, Susan Arnold took his place as chairman.

With a $3 million salary in 2019, plus a $21.8 million bonus, $10 million worth of stock awards, and $9.6 million worth of stock options, Iger was consistently one of Hollywood's highest-paid CEOs prior to his departure, Business Insider previously reported.

Iger returned to Disney as the company's CEO following the ouster of his successor, Bob Chapek. His contract was originally set to expire in 2024, but Disney's board in 2023 voted to extend his contract to the end of 2026 — and increased his compensation package by several million dollars.

Upon his return, Iger faced challenges to his control over the company, including from activist investor Nelson Peltz over two board seats. Iger ultimately prevailed. The proxy fight over the seats is estimated to have cost all parties about $70 million.

In July 2024, Iger and Bay bought a controlling share of Los Angeles women's soccer team Angel City FC for an undisclosed amount in a deal that values the team at $250 million. Iger and Bay replace Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian as Angel City FC's controlling owner.