That's even as he admits that Biden has issues effectively delivering his own message.
"I'm not aware that anyone thinks that Joe Biden is the best candidate in the history of the world, or that he's an ideal candidate," Sanders told The New Yorker. "Sometimes he gets confused about names. You're right—sometimes he doesn't put three sentences together."
But the Vermont senator insists that he remains the best candidate Democrats have, and that "trying, in an unprecedented way, to take him off the ticket would do a lot more harm than good."
In the interview, Sanders argued that Biden has been the "strongest record of any President in modern American history," and that both the media and his Democratic colleagues — 20 of whom have publicly called on Biden to drop out — are not focused enough on the substance of the president's achievements.
"I would much prefer to have somebody who can't put three sentences together who is setting forth an agenda that speaks to the needs of working-class people," said Sanders. "Given these really horrific several weeks that Biden has had since the debate, where Democrats are busy attacking him, the media is busy attacking him, if he's not any worse off today than he was before the debate, I think that he has a very good chance to win."
Sanders's approach in the wake of Biden's disastrous debate performance has differed significantly from his fellow Vermont lawmakers.
Sen. Peter Welch, the other Vermont senator, is the sole Democratic senator who has called on Biden to drop out.
Rep. Becca Balint, the state's sole House member, told VT Digger that her constituents "overwhelmingly" want Biden to drop out, though she's stopped short of calling for it herself.
Usha Vance has been tight-lipped about her political beliefs, but has long supported her husband's ambitions.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Since law school, JD Vance's wife has been tight-lipped about her political beliefs.
Usha Vance was a registered Democrat until 2014 and worked at what some viewed as a progressive law firm.
Though she hasn't seemed thrilled about the national spotlight, she is speaking at the RNC tonight.
Usha Vance's classmates at Yale Law School didn't know much about her politics.
"She was more tight-lipped, at least in my experience, with her political views," said Marvin Lim, a Democrat in the Georgia House of Representatives who also graduated in 2013. He wasn't close with either of the Vances, but said that they "certainly communicated a great deal."
"I don't remember ever having a political conversation with Usha," Elliot Forhan, a Democrat representative in Ohio who took a small class with Usha but wasn't close friends with her, said. "She just didn't really show her cards with respect to the political stuff."
Usha Chilikuri met JD Vance while at Yale Law Cchool. The two were in the same small group of approximately 15 students who take all of their classes together, the New York Times reported. They got married in 2014, one year after graduating, and Lim said that their affection for each other was obvious. Less obvious, however, is Usha Vance's political orientation and relationship to the newfound national spotlight.
Usha Vance grew up in a suburb of San Diego, raised by a mechanical engineer and a biologist. One of her family friends, Vikram Rao, told The Times that she was a natural and kind leader, selecting what games they played and setting the rules by age five.
After getting her undergraduate degree from Yale, she studied copyright law at Cambridge. One of her friends there, Gabriel Winant, said that her social circle was left of center and even dotted with the occasional leftist, The Times reported.
While her political views weren't recognizable to casual peers at Yale Law School, her leadership was evident. Both Forhan and Lim said that she was not particularly loud in class, but did not fade into the background, either. Her drive didn't seem to extend to politics.
"She didn't express political ambitions, but she did have ambition," Lim told Business Insider, noting that she went on to have prestigious judicial clerkships after graduation. "We knew those were things she wanted to do, but not political ambitions."
JD Vance's spokespeople did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
From a "woke" law firm to conservative clerkships, Vance's political orientations remained murky after law school.
After graduating from law school, Vance clerked for a pre-SCOTUS Brett Kavanaugh from 2014-2015 and Chief Justice John Roberts from 2017-2018. In addition, she worked at the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, but resigned on Monday when her husband became the GOP nominee for vice president. The law firm has since removed her biography, and with it all of her past cases, though the website used to describe her as "a skilled litigator specializing in higher education, local government, and technology sectors."
The magazine The American Lawyer described Munger, Tolles & Olson as "cool, woke" in 2019, with a "radically progressive" policy on gender and racial diversity in hiring, Vanity Fair reported. Despite his wife's workplace environment, JD Vance championed the "Dismantle DEI Act" in June, 2024, calling the DEI agenda "destructive." In 2022, two colleagues at the firm described Usha Vance as liberal or moderate to The Times.
To make her political affiliations even murkier, Vance was a registered Democrat as of 2014, The Times reported. Yet she shifted to the right alongside her husband — in 2021, Federal Election Commission records reveal that she donated to Blake Masters, a conservative Senate candidate in Arizona.
Vance hasn't always seemed eager to be center stage.
When JD Vance was himself running for Senate, Usha Vance appeared in his very first campaign ad, sitting in front of a bookshelf and talking about their three children. In an interview with Newsmax during the campaign, she said that her husband has not changed in the many years of their relationship.
After her initial appearance, Vance largely faded out of her husband's campaign, but became more active as voting day neared. In a recent interview on Fox & Friends, Usha Vance seemed ambivalent about taking on a public political role. During the conversation in June, she didn't wholly embrace the possibility of becoming the Second Lady.
"I don't know that anyone is ever ready for that kind of scrutiny," she said. "I'm not raring to change anything about our lives are right now, but I believe in JD and I really love him, so we'll just sort of see what happens."
She declined to specify what issues she would tackle should she end up in the White House, saying that "we might be getting a little ahead of ourselves."
While Usha Vance's political orientations and interest in life as a national figure remain foggy, her devotion to her husband has seemed strong since her days at Yale Law School.
"In terms of political beliefs, she held that close to her chest, but in terms of being supportive of JD, that does not surprise me," Lim said.
Usha Vance is scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention tonight, just before her husband. As he has moved into the spotlight, it seems that she is starting to, quite literally, as well.
Elon Musk has endorsed Trump and reportedly is donating millions to a super PAC supporting him. Biden's presidential campaign quickly pounced on an opportunity to fundraise off the news.
Slaven Vlasic via Getty Images; Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
The Biden campaign accused Elon Musk of using his vast wealth "to try to control our democracy."
In a fundraising missive, the Biden campaign said Musk "ruined Twitter."
President Joe Biden is trying to spin Elon Musk's full-throated endorsement of Donald Trump in his own financial favor.
The Biden campaign blasted out a fundraising email Tuesday, warning "Musk is using his vast fortune to try to control our democracy."
In a bid to solicit donations, the Biden campaign referenced Musk's reported $45 million monthly pledge to a pro-Trump super PAC, America PAC.
"The richest person in the world is now on Team MAGA," the email reads.
It took another jab at the billionaire, adding that "Musk already ruined Twitter by allowing hate speech and disinformation to flood the platform."
The Biden Campaign sent out an email blast in the wake of Elon Musk's endorsement of Trump and reports the Tesla CEO planned to donate millions to a Trump super PAC.
Screenshot
Neither reps for Musk's X nor the Trump campaign immediately responded to Business Insider's requests for comment ahead of publication.
Musk "fully" endorsed Trump after an assassination attempt on the former president at his campaign rally Saturday in Pennsylvania.
And the Biden campaign had previously slammed Musk for making a "sizable" donation to America PAC, Bloomberg reported.
"Arrogant billionaires only out for themselves are not what America wants or what America needs," a Biden campaign spokesman told the outlet. "Elon knows Trump is a sucker who will sell America out, cutting his taxes while raising taxes on the middle class by $2,500."
Rep. Adam Schiff of California became the 20th Democratic member of Congress to call on President Joe Biden to step aside.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Rep. Adam Schiff of California called on Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race.
Schiff is the highest profile Democrat to call on the president to step aside.
Biden has repeatedly declared that he will remain in the race.
Rep. Adam Schiff of California on Wednesday became the most notable Democrat to publicly call on President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race.
"[O]ur nation is at a crossroads," Schiff said in a statement first reported by The Los Angeles Times. "A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November."
Schiff, who rose to fame leading then-President Donald Trump's first impeachment, is widely favored to win his US Senate race this November and hold onto the seat once held by Sen. Dianne Feinstein. He is also a close ally of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Twenty Democratic members of Congress have now publicly called on Biden to drop out. More lawmakers have expressed concern that Trump will win in November. Trump is currently in the best position in national polling of any Republican presidential nominee in over two decades. Some Democrats are fearful that the former president could even be on the path to a blowout win, which could harm Democrats down the ballot.
Like other Democrats, Schiff praised Biden's leadership and said the final decision ultimately rested with him. The California Democrat also made clear that his party should be focused on one goal: beating Trump.
"Joe Biden has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation's history, and his lifetime of service as a Senator, a Vice President, and now as President has made our country better," Schiff said.
Schiff's statement underlines that the push to get Biden to step aside remains ongoing. Democrats remained mostly silent in the wake of the assassination attempt on Trump. The party has also been trying to project a unified front during the Republican National Convention.
Pelosi has reportedly continued to hear out House Democrats who are concerned about Biden's standing. She raised eyebrows when she suggested during an interview that the president hadn't made a final decision. At that point, Biden had repeatedly declared that he was staying in the race.
"It's up to the president to decide if he is going to run," Pelosi said on July 10 on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "We're all encouraging him to make that decision. Because time is running short."
Schiff is very close to his fellow Californian. Pelosi endorsed Schiff over other House Democrats to replace Feinstein. Her support, as The San Francisco Chronicle pointed out, has helped Schiff deflect criticism about replacing an iconic woman when other women were also on the primary ballot. Pelosi also made sure that it was Schiff who helped lead Trump's first impeachment even though such powerful has historically gone to the House Judiciary Committee.
Amid the continued dissension, the Democratic National Committee indicated that it would proceed with a controversial plan to crown Biden the nominee before the party's convention kicks off in Chicago next month.
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.
2. Eminem
Eminem in "Not Afraid."
Eminem/YouTube
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.
3. Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga in "Poker Face."
Lady Gaga/YouTube
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."
4. Imagine Dragons
Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons in "Thunder."
Imagine Dragons/YouTube
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.
5. Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars in "That's What I Like."
Bruno Mars/YouTube
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."
6. Katy Perry
Katy Perry in "Roar."
Katy Perry/YouTube
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.
7. Pharrell
Pharrell in "Happy."
Pharrell Williams/YouTube
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.
8. Florida Georgia Line
Florida Georgia Line in "Cruise."
Florida Georgia Line/YouTube
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."
9. Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran in "Perfect."
Ed Sheeran/YouTube
Ed Sheeran received three diamond certifications in 2019 for "Shape of You," "Thinking Out Loud," and "Perfect."
10. The Weeknd
The Weeknd in "Blinding Lights."
The Weeknd/YouTube
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.
11. Drake
Drake in "God's Plan."
Drake/YouTube
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.
12. Post Malone
Post Malone in "Congratulations."
Post Malone/YouTube
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.
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."
14. Maroon 5
Adam Levine of Maroon 5 in "Sugar."
Maroon 5/YouTube
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."
15. The Chainsmokers
The Chainsmokers in "Don't Let Me Down."
The Chainsmokers/YouTube
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.
16. Twenty One Pilots
Twenty One Pilots in "Stressed Out."
Fueled By Ramen/YouTube
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."
17. Swae Lee
Swae Lee in "Sunflower."
Post Malone/YouTube
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."
18. Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson has two diamond-certified songs.
Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and "Thriller" were both certified diamond on August 29, 2022, nearly 40 years after their release.
19. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis in "Thrift Shop."
Macklemore/YouTube
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.
20. Halsey
Halsey in "Without Me."
Halsey/YouTube
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.
21. Rihanna
Rihanna in "We Found Love."
Rihanna/YouTube
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.
22. Kanye West
Kanye West in "Stronger."
Kanye West/YouTube
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."
"Trap Queen" was certified diamond on November 8, 2019.
35. "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran
"Perfect" was released in 2017.
Ed Sheeran/YouTube
"Perfect" was certified diamond on December 20, 2019.
36. "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift
"Shake It Off" was released in 2014.
Taylor Swift/YouTube
"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").
37. "Happy" by Pharrell
"Happy" was released in 2013.
Pharrell/YouTube
"Happy" was certified diamond on May 6, 2020.
38. "Meant to Be" by Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line
"Meant to Be" was released in 2017.
Bebe Rexha/YouTube
"Meant to Be" was certified diamond on August 17, 2020.
39. "Grenade" by Bruno Mars
"Grenade" was released in 2010.
Bruno Mars/YouTube
"Grenade" was certified diamond on October 2, 2020.
40. "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People
"Pumped Up Kicks" was released in 2010.
FosterThePeople/YouTube
"Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People was certified diamond on October 13, 2020.
41. "All of Me" by John Legend
"All of Me" was released in 2013
John Legend/YouTube
"All of Me" was certified diamond on October 13, 2020.
42. "Baby Shark" by Pinkfong
Pinkfong's "Baby Shark" was uploaded to YouTube in 2015.
Pinkfong! Kids' Songs & Stories/YouTube
"Baby Shark" was certified diamond on November 5, 2020.
43. "Rockstar" by Post Malone featuring 21 Savage
"Rockstar" was released in 2017.
Post Malone/YouTube
"Rockstar" was certified diamond on November 9, 2020.
44. "Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)" by Post Malone and Swae Lee
"Sunflower" was released in 2018.
Post Malone/YouTube
"Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)" was certified diamond on November 9, 2020.
45. "Stay With Me" by Sam Smith
"Stay With Me" was released in 2014.
Sam Smith/YouTube
"Stay With Me" was certified diamond on November 12, 2020.
46. "Party in the U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus
"Party in the U.S.A." was released in 2009.
HollywoodRecordsVevo/YouTube
"Party in the U.S.A." was certified diamond on December 7, 2020.
47. "Sicko Mode" by Travis Scott featuring Drake
"Sicko Mode" was released in 2018.
Travis Scott/YouTube
"Sicko Mode" was certified diamond on December 9, 2020.
48. "Bodak Yellow" by Cardi B
"Bodak Yellow" was released in 2017.
Cardi B/YouTube
"Bodak Yellow" was certified diamond on March 8, 2021, making Cardi B the first female rapper in history to have a diamond-certified single.
49. "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
"Bohemian Rhapsody" was released in 1975.
Queen/YouTube
"Bohemian Rhapsody" was certified diamond on March 25, 2021.
50. "Sorry" by Justin Bieber
"Sorry" was released in 2015.
Justin Bieber/YouTube
"Sorry" was certified diamond on March 29, 2021.
51. "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train
"Hey, Soul Sister" was released in 2009.
Train/YouTube
"Hey, Soul Sister" was certified diamond on April 7, 2021.
52. "Low" by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain
"Low" was released in 2007.
Flo Rida/YouTube
"Low" was certified diamond on April 22, 2021.
53. "Stressed Out" by Twenty One Pilots
"Stressed Out" was released in 2015.
Fueled By Ramen/YouTube
"Stressed Out" was certified diamond on April 30, 2021.
54. "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra
"Somebody That I Used to Know" was released in 2011.
gotyemusic/YouTube
"Somebody That I Used to Know" was certified diamond on May 6, 2021.
55. "That's What I Like" by Bruno Mars
"That's What I Like" was released as a single in 2017.
Bruno Mars/YouTube
"That's What I Like" was certified diamond on May 21, 2021.
56. "When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars
"When I Was Your Man" was released as a single in 2013.
"Moves Like Jagger" was released as a single in 2011.
Maroon 5/YouTube
"Moves Like Jagger" was certified diamond on July 1, 2021.
59. "Sad!" by XXXTentacion
"Sad!" was released in 2018.
XXXTENTACION/YouTube
"Sad!" was certified diamond on August 13, 2021.
60. "Demons" by Imagine Dragons
"Demons" was released in 2013.
Imagine Dragons/YouTube
"Demons" was certified diamond on August 31, 2021.
61. "Believer" by Imagine Dragons
"Believer" was released as a single in 2017.
Imagine Dragons/YouTube
"Believer" was certified diamond on August 31, 2021.
62. "Lean On" by Major Lazer and DJ Snake featuring MØ
"Lean On" was released in 2015.
Major Lazer/YouTube
"Lean On" was certified diamond on September 17, 2021.
63. "Havana" by Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug
"Havana" was released in 2017.
Camila Cabello/YouTube
"Havana" was certified diamond on October 4, 2021.
64. "Stronger" by Kanye West
"Stronger" was released in 2007.
Kanye West/YouTube
"Stronger" was certified diamond on October 6, 2021.
65. "Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj
"Super Bass" was released in 2011.
Nicki Minaj/YouTube
"Super Bass" was certified diamond on November 9, 2021.
66. "Life Is Good" by Future featuring Drake
"Life Is Good" was released in 2020.
Future/YouTube
"Life Is Good" was certified diamond on November 22, 2021.
67. "Girls Like You" by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B
"Girls Like You" was released in 2018.
Maroon 5/YouTube
"Girls Like You" was certified diamond on November 29, 2021.
68. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey
"All I Want for Christmas Is You" was released in 1994.
Mariah Carey/YouTube
"All I Want for Christmas Is You" was certified diamond on December 3, 2021.
69. "The Box" by Roddy Ricch
"The Box" was released in 2019.
Roddy Ricch/YouTube
"The Box" was certified diamond on December 6, 2021.
70. "I Like It" by Cardi B featuring J Balvin and Bad Bunny
"I Like It" was released in 2018.
Cardi B/YouTube
"I Like It" was certified diamond on December 13, 2021.
71. "Tennessee Whiskey" by Chris Stapleton
"Tennessee Whiskey" was released in 2015.
Chris Stapleton/YouTube
"Tennessee Whiskey" was certified diamond on December 14, 2021.
72. "Sugar" by Maroon 5
"Sugar" was released as a single in 2015.
Maroon 5/YouTube
"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.
73. "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston
"I Will Always Love You" was released in 1992.
Whitney Houston/YouTube
"I Will Always Love You" was certified diamond on January 12, 2022.
74. "Lucid Dreams" by Juice Wrld
"Lucid Dreams" was released in 2018.
Lyrical Lemonade/YouTube
"Lucid Dreams" was certified diamond on February 4, 2022.
75. "Location" by Khalid
"Location" was released in 2016.
Khalid/YouTube
"Location" was certified diamond on March 3, 2022.
76. "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri
"A Thousand Years" was released in 2011.
Christina Perri/YouTube
"A Thousand Years" was certified diamond on March 3, 2022.
77. "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd
"Blinding Lights" was released in 2019.
The Weeknd/YouTube
"Blinding Lights" was certified diamond on April 5, 2022.
78. "Starboy" by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
"Starboy" was released in 2016.
The Weeknd/YouTube
"Starboy" was certified diamond on April 5, 2022.
79. "Timber" by Pitbull featuring Kesha
"Timber" was released in 2013.
Pitbull/YouTube
"Timber" was certified diamond on June 23, 2022.
80. "Thunder" by Imagine Dragons
"Thunder" was released in 2017.
Imagine Dragons/YouTube
"Thunder" was certified diamond on July 7, 2022, marking Imagine Dragon's fourth diamond-certified song.
81. "Don't Let Me Down" by The Chainsmokers featuring Daya
"Don't Let Me Down" was released in 2016.
The Chainsmokers/YouTube
"Don't Let Me Down" was certified diamond on July 11, 2022.
82. "Heathens" by Twenty One Pilots
"Heathens" was released in 2016.
Fueled by Ramen/YouTube
"Heathens" was certified diamond on July 22, 2022.
83. "Unforgettable" by French Montana featuring Swae Lee
"Unforgettable" was released in 2017.
French Montana/YouTube
"Unforgettable" was certified diamond on August 25, 2022.
84. "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson
"Billie Jean" was released in 1982.
Michael Jackson/YouTube
"Billie Jean" was certified diamond on August 29, 2022.
85. "Thriller" by Michael Jackson
"Thriller" was released in 1982.
Michael Jackson/YouTube
"Thriller" was certified diamond on August 29, 2022.
86. "Drip Too Hard" by Lil Baby and Gunna
"Drip Too Hard" was released in 2018.
Lil Baby/YouTube
"Drip Too Hard" was certified diamond on September 12, 2022.
87. "Locked Out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars
"Locked Out of Heaven" was released in 2012.
Bruno Mars/YouTube
"Locked Out of Heaven" was certified diamond on October 1, 2022. Mars now has six diamond-certified songs, the third-most in history.
88. "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton
"Can't Hold Us" was released in 2011.
Macklemore/YouTube
"Can't Hold Us" was certified diamond on October 14, 2022.
89. "Wagon Wheel" by Darius Rucker
"Wagon Wheel" was released in 2013.
Darius Rucker/YouTube
"Wagon Wheel" was certified diamond on October 27, 2022.
90. "Something Just Like This" by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay
"Something Just Like This" was released in 2017.
The Chainsmokers/YouTube
"Something Just Like This" was certified diamond on November 2, 2022.
91. "Psycho" by Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign
"Psycho" was released in 2018.
Post Malone/YouTube
"Psycho" was certified diamond on November 14, 2022.
92. "White Iverson" by Post Malone
"White Iverson" was released in 2015.
Post Malone/YouTube
"White Iverson" was certified diamond on November 14, 2022.
93. "Can't Feel My Face" by The Weeknd
"Can't Feel My Face" was released in 2015.
The Weeknd/YouTube
"Can't Feel My Face" was certified diamond on December 6, 2022.
94. "Hotline Bling" by Drake
"Hotline Bling" was released in 2015.
Drake/YouTube
"Hotline Bling" was certified diamond on December 8, 2022.
95. "One Dance" by Drake
"One Dance" was released in 2016.
NBC
"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).
96. "Lollipop" by Lil Wayne featuring Static Major
"Lollipop" was released in 2008.
Lil Wayne/YouTube
"Lollipop" was certified diamond on December 14, 2022.
97. "Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)" by Kid Cudi featuring MGMT and Ratatat
"Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)" was released in 2009.
Kid Cudi/YouTube
"Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)" was certified diamond on December 15, 2022.
98. "XO Tour Llif3" by Lil Uzi Vert
"XO Tour Llif3" was released in 2017.
Lil Uzi Vert/YouTube
"XO Tour Llif3" was certified diamond on December 7, 2022.
"Without Me" was certified diamond on February 1, 2023.
101. "Say You Won't Let Go" by James Arthur
"Say You Won't Let Go" was released in 2016.
James Arthur/YouTube
"Say You Won't Let Go" was certified diamond on February 15, 2023.
102. "Earned It" by The Weeknd
"Earned It" was released in 2014.
The Weeknd/YouTube
"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.
103. "Take Me to Church" by Hozier
"Take Me to Church" was released in 2013.
Hozier/YouTube
"Take Me to Church" was certified diamond on March 15, 2023.
104. "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga
"Just Dance" was released in 2008.
Lady Gaga/YouTube
"Just Dance" was certified diamond on April 12, 2023.
105. "Need You Now" by Lady A
"Need You Now" was released in 2009.
Lady A/YouTube
"Need You Now" was certified diamond on April 17, 2023.
106. "Sweater Weather" by The Neighbourhood
"Sweater Weather" was released in 2012.
The Neighbourhood/YouTube
"Sweater Weather" was certified diamond on April 19, 2023.
107. "Better Now" by Post Malone
"Better Now" was released in 2018.
Post Malone/YouTube
"Better Now" was certified diamond on April 20, 2023.
108. "I Fall Apart" by Post Malone
"I Fall Apart" was released in 2017.
Post Malone/YouTube
"I Fall Apart" was certified diamond on April 20, 2023.
109. "Circles" by Post Malone
"Circles" was released in 2019.
Post Malone/YouTube
"Circles" was certified diamond on April 20, 2023.
110. "We Found Love" by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris
"We Found Love" was released in 2011.
Rihanna/YouTube
"We Found Love" was certified diamond on April 27, 2023.
111. "Beautiful Crazy" by Luke Combs
"Beautiful Crazy" was released in 2018.
Luke Combs/YouTube
"Beautiful Crazy" was certified diamond on June 12, 2023.
112. "Ni**as in Paris" by Jay-Z and Kanye West
"Ni**as In Paris" was released in 2011.
Kanye West/YouTube
"Ni**as in Paris" was certified diamond on June 12, 2023.
113. "Wake Me Up" by Avicii
"Wake Me Up" was released in 2013.
Avicii/YouTube
"Wake Me Up" was certified diamond on June 16, 2023.
114. "Fuck Love" by XXXTentacion featuring Trippie Redd
"Fuck Love" was released in 2017.
Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
"Fuck Love" was certified diamond on June 18, 2023.
115. "California Gurls" by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg
"California Gurls" was released in 2010.
Katy Perry/YouTube
"California Gurls" was certified diamond on June 21, 2023.
116. "Stay" by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber
"Stay" was released in 2021.
The Kid LAROI/YouTube
"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.
117. "No Hands" by Waka Flocka Flame featuring Wale and Roscoe Dash
"No Hands" was released in 2010.
Waka Flocka/YouTube
"No Hands" was certified diamond on July 20, 2023.
118. "Riptide" by Vance Joy
"Riptide" was released in 2013.
Vance Joy/YouTube
"Riptide" was certified diamond on July 27, 2023.
119. "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish
"Bad Guy" was released in 2019.
Billie Eilish/YouTube
"Bad Guy" was certified diamond on July 31, 2023.
120. "Body Like a Back Road" by Sam Hunt
"Body Like a Back Road" was released in 2017.
Sam Hunt/YouTube
"Body Like a Back Road" was certified diamond on August 1, 2023.
121. "In da Club" by 50 Cent
"In da Club" was released in 2003.
50 Cent/YouTube
"In da Club" was certified diamond on November 1, 2023.
122. "Levitating" by Dua Lipa
"Levitating" was released in 2020.
Dua Lipa/YouTube
"Levitating" was certified diamond on November 6, 2023.
123. "Someone You Loved" by Lewis Capaldi
"Someone You Loved" was released in 2018.
Lewis Capaldi/YouTube
"Someone You Loved" was certified diamond on November 8, 2023.
124. "Young Dumb & Broke" by Khalid
"Young Dumb & Broke" was released in 2017.
Khalid/YouTube
"Young Dumb & Broke" was certified diamond on December 6, 2023.
125. "Heaven" by Kane Brown
"Heaven" was released in 2017.
Kane Brown/YouTube
"Heaven" was certified diamond on December 7, 2023.
126. "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers
"Mr. Brightside" was released in 2004.
The Killers/YouTube
"Mr. Brightside" was certified diamond on January 12, 2024.
127. "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey
"Don't Stop Believin'" was released in 1981.
Paul Natkin/Getty Images
"Don't Stop Believin'" was certified diamond on January 26, 2024.
128. "Yeah!" by Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris
"Yeah!" was released in 2004.
Usher/YouTube
"Yeah!" was certified diamond on February 9, 2024.
129. "In The End" by Linkin Park
"In The End" was released in 2000.
Linkin Park/YouTube
"In The End" was certified diamond on February 27, 2024.
130. "In Case You Didn't Know" by Brett Young
"In Case You Didn't Know" was released in 2017.
Brett Young/YouTube
"In Case You Didn't Know" was certified diamond on March 19, 2024.
131. "Diamonds" by Rihanna
"Diamonds" was released in 2012.
Rihanna/YouTube
"Diamonds" was certified diamond on April 22, 2024.
132. "Wow." by Post Malone
"Wow." was released in 2018.
Post Malone/YouTube
"Wow." was certified diamond on April 23, 2024, becoming Post Malone's ninth diamond single.
"Let It Go" was certified diamond on May 13, 2024.
134. "Bang Bang" by Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj
"Bang Bang" was released in 2014.
Jessie J/YouTube
"Bang Bang" was certified diamond on May 23, 2024.
135. "Needed Me" by Rihanna
"Needed Me" was released in 2016.
Rihanna/YouTube
"Needed Me" was certified diamond on May 31, 2024.
136. "Work" by Rihanna
"Work" was released in 2016.
Rihanna/YouTube
"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.
137. "Umbrella" by Rihanna
"Umbrella" was released in 2007.
Rihanna/YouTube
"Umbrella" was certified diamond on May 31, 2024.
138. "Stay" by Rihanna
"Stay" was released in 2012.
Rihanna/YouTube
"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."
139. "Give Me Everything" by Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack, and Nayer
"Give Me Everything" was released in 2011.
Pitbull/YouTube
"Give Me Everything" was certified diamond on June 6, 2024.
140. "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals
"Heat Waves" was released in 2020.
Glass Animals/YouTube
"Heat Waves" was certified diamond on June 6, 2024.
141. "Save Your Tears" by The Weeknd
"Save Your Tears" was released in 2020.
The Weeknd/YouTube
"Save Your Tears" was certified diamond on June 20, 2024.
142. "Die For You" by The Weeknd
"Die For You" was released as a single in 2017.
The Weeknd/YouTube
"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.
143. "Drowning" by A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie featuring Kodak Black
"Drowning" was released in 2017.
A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie/YouTube
"Drowning" was certified diamond on June 25, 2024.
144. "E.T." by Katy Perry
"E.T." was released as a single in 2011.
Katy Perry/YouTube
"E.T." was certified diamond on July 1, 2024.
145. "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry
"Teenage Dream" was released in 2010.
Katy Perry/YouTube
"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.
146. "Chandelier" by Sia
"Chandelier" was released in 2014.
Sia/YouTube
"Chandelier" was certified diamond on July 3, 2024.
147. "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC
"Thunderstruck" was released in 1990.
AC/DC/YouTube
"Thunderstruck" was certified diamond on July 8, 2024.
Peter Thiel, left, and Elon Musk, are two members of the so-called "PayPal Mafia."
Associated Press
A group of early 2000s PayPal employees and founders came to be known as the "PayPal Mafia."
The members have all gone on to impact Silicon Valley by founding and developing major companies.
The group includes Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, and the founders of both YouTube and Yelp.
What do the founders of YouTube, Yelp, Tesla, and LinkedIn have in common? Apart from creating some of the biggest companies in tech, they all share a common résumé line item: they've all worked at PayPal.
Many of PayPal's early employees went on to become major names in tech and the venture capital world, founding, funding, and otherwise developing successful companies. This elite group came to be known as the "PayPal Mafia," a nickname that gained popularity after Fortune featured the term in a 2007 piece along with a photo of some of the members dressed in gangster attire.
Members of the group include Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Reid Hoffman, along with over a dozen others. Here's a rundown of the most prominent members of this exclusive group and what they're up to over two decades later.
Peter Thiel: PayPal's founder and the so-called "don" of the PayPal Mafia
Peter Thiel in 1999.
AP
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 went on to cofound Founders Fund, a venture capital firm that has helped launch companies like SpaceX and Airbnb.
Thiel is now a billionaire.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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: PayPal cofounder and Chief Technology Officer.
Max Levchin was a cofounder of PayPal.
Ben Margot/AP
Max Levchin is sometimes called the "consigliere" of the PayPal Mafia — in "The Godfather," a consigliere is an advisor to the boss.
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.
Ken Howery: PayPal cofounder and CFO from 1998 to 2002.
Howery served as PayPal's CFO.
Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
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.
Howery recently served as US ambassador to Sweden.
Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Ambassador Ken Howery.
Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for the World Childhood Foundation
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.
Elon Musk: founder of (the other) X.com, which merged with Thiel's Confinity to become PayPal
Elon Musk pictured in the early days of PayPal.
AP
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.
Musk is currently the world's richest person, per Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.
Musk now juggles multiple companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and X, formerly Twitter.
Patrick Fallon / Reuters
Perhaps the most well known of all the members of the PayPal mafia now, Musk's estimated net worth is $270 billion.
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.
Luke Nosek: PayPal cofounder and vice president of marketing and strategy.
Nosek was also a PayPal cofounder.
Thomson Reuters
Nosek was also reportedly the person who clued in Peter Thiel to cryogenic preservation, which Thiel has since invested in heavily.
Nosek explored angel investing.
Nosek is a SpaceX investor.
David M. Benett/Getty Images for Netflix
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.
Roelof Botha: PayPal's director of corporate development, vice-president of finance, CFO
Botha started at PayPal as director of corporate development.
Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images for TechCrunch/AOL
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 a partner at venture capital firm Sequoia Capital
Botha as served on the board at more than a dozen companies, including Square, EventBrite, and Weebly, 23andMe, Tumblr, Instagram, and YouTube.
Reid Hoffman: board of directors at PayPal, COO
Hoffman started on PayPal's board of directors.
Tony Avelar/AP
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 cofounded LinkedIn and is one of Silicon Valley's most prolific angel investors.
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.
David Sacks: PayPal COO
Sacks served as PayPal's COO.
Owen Thomas, Business Insider
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.
Sacks went on to found several companies and become an angel investor.
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.
Jawed Karim, Chad Hurley, and Steve Chen met at PayPal during its early days.
Steven Chen, left, and Chad Hurley.
Noah Berger/AP
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.
Today, Karim, Hurley, and Chen remain active entrepreneurs and investors with a hand in projects from finance to music.
The trio went on to become investors.
David Buchan/Getty Images
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.
Andrew McCormack: assistant to Peter Thiel at PayPal
In 2003, McCormack started a restaurant group in San Francisco. In 2008, he joined Thiel Capital and worked there for 5 years.
McCormack went on to launch VC firm Valar Ventures
Peter Thiel.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
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.
Keith Rabois: PayPal's executive vice president
Rabois served as PayPal's executive vice president.
Fortune Live Media via Flickr
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 joined Thiel, Howery, and Nosek as a partner at Founders Fund.
Rabois has invested in a number of major companies.
He was a general partner at Founder's Fund, where he cofounded OpenStore, before returning to Khosla Ventures in early 2024.
Russel Simmons and Jeremy Stoppelman: worked on technology at PayPal.
Eric Risberg/AP
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 left his official role at Yelp in 2010, while Stoppelman continues to serve as Yelp's CEO.
In 2017, Selby was revealed to be the generous tipper behind "Tips for Jesus."
Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
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.
Dave McClure: PayPal's director of marketing
McClure served PayPal's director of marketing.
Edward Wong/South China Morning Post via Getty Images
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's since become an investor and owner in a professional sports league for ultimate frisbee and cofounded Practical Venture Capital, according to his LinkedIn.
Several more former PayPal employees went on to have careers both in and out of tech.
Joe Lonsdale, who got his start as a finance intern at PayPal.
Brian Ach/Getty Images for TechCrunch
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.
President Joe Biden has repeatedly declared that he is staying in the 2024 race, but doubts about his ability to beat former President Donald Trump still persist in the Democratic Party.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Democrats are moving ahead with a plan to crown President Joe Biden as their nominee earlier than expected.
The Democratic National Committee is set to hold a virtual roll call vote before the convention.
Their effort would help Biden head off any formal challenge to step aside.
President Joe Biden urged skeptical Democrats to challenge him on the convention floor. But under a controversial plan, he would already be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee when delegates gather in Chicago.
Top national Democrats have pledged to move ahead with a virtual roll call vote, which would head off any messy fight on the convention floor. Legally speaking, it would also make it far more difficult to replace Biden once he is formally declared the nominee.
This is why some of Biden's biggest skeptics are railing against the plan.
"Fast-forwarding the nomination process is no way to convince the many unconvinced voters in the growing number of battleground states," Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas said in a statement. "Those so eager to overly protect President Biden ignore his own words inviting anyone questioning his nomination to do so at the Convention."
In a letter to other top Democrats, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Leah Daughtry, who co-lead the Democratic National Committee's Rules Committee, defended the plan to move forward with the virtual vote. They said a Friday meeting would further discuss how the vote would work.
"We will not be implementing a rushed virtual voting process, though we will begin our important consideration of how a virtual voting process would work," they wrote.
Walz said a vote would not happen before August 1. Each of the more than 4,000 delegates elected to participate in the national convention would be able to vote in a virtual vote. Josh Putnam, a respected expert on the delegate selection process, wrote on X that it is possible that superdelegates, which include influential party leaders, could vote as well.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett became the first sitting member of Congress to call on Biden to drop out.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Doggett was the first congressional Democrat to call on the president to step aside in the wake of Biden's disastrous debate performance — 19 other Democrats have now joined him. As Doggett pointed out, Biden once goaded skeptical Democrats to challenge him on the floor in Chicago.
"I'm getting frustrated by the elites in the party, 'Oh, they know so much more,'" Biden said during an interview with MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on July 8. "Any of these guys that don't think I should run, run against me. Announce for president, challenge me at the convention."
Ostensibly, Democrats are pressing ahead because they are concerned that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris might not make the ballot in every state. The Democratic National Committee began putting a back-up plan in May when Ohio looked like it could not change its ballot deadline. Since then, Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, called a special session of the state legislature. On May 31, he signed a law ensuring Biden would be on the ballot.
But some of the party's top leaders are still not convinced.
"If we were in a simpler time, we've trusted each other and got it done," Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, speaking at a news conference on behalf of Biden's reelection, told reporters in Milwaukee, per CNN.
Walz added, "I don't trust them in Ohio to do this."
In their letter, Walz and Daughtry also cited concerns about deadlines in Washington, Montana, Oklahoma, and Virginia.
Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison got into a heated back-and-forth with journalist Nate Silver, who rose to fame as an election analyst, on Tuesday after Silver repeatedly pointed out that Ohio had changed its law.
"Love y'all but when it comes to election law and ballot access, I put my trust in our legal team who make a living understanding these laws and processes & not in the pollster who promised us the red wave. #ClassDismissed," Harrison said, misidentifying Silver's profession.
There's no 8/7 deadline. You're making that up. Ohio passed legislation so that whomever is nominated at the Democratic Convention will be on the November ballot. Have some guts and defend your party's ability to follow its own process. And stop lying to the American public. https://t.co/OXl0SAPpld
Election law experts have called out Democrats' justifications, saying they are really just designed to help Biden run out the clock on any challenge.
"Respectfully, these are makeweight arguments designed to deflect attention from the Biden/DNC plan to run out the clock, which has been discernible since at least early last week," University of Wisconsin Law School Dean Daniel Tokaji wrote on an election blog hosted by fellow respected expert Rick Hasen, a law professor at UCLA.
Hasen has called out the claim that Ohio could try to bait and switch Democrats. He argued that if something like that were to occur, then Democrats could use the statements of Ohio Republican leaders in a potential lawsuit.
"I don't think it's serious to say that Democrats need do a virtual roll call to assure their party's nominee will be on the ballot. This is about politics, not law," Hasen wrote.
The reality is that Biden still hasn't quieted his doubters.
Biden has repeatedly declared he's not going anywhere. He's stepped up his campaign schedule and granted more interviews. Still, the doubts about his standing persist, especially after two shaky interviews earlier this week.
An unnamed House Democrat told Politico, "Quiet efforts continue to urge the president to step aside, and team Biden remains dug in."
An AP-NORC poll is likely to fuel those doubts. The poll, which was released on Wednesday, found that nearly 2/3rds of Democrats want Biden to step aside.
It began on Tuesday, July 2, when Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first member of Congress to call for Biden's withdrawal. In a statement, he praised the president's record of accomplishments but said an "authoritarian takeover" would come if former President Donald Trump won.
"Too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory — too great a risk to assume that what could not be turned around in a year, what was not turned around in the debate, can be turned around now," Doggett said. He later said on NBC that some of his House colleagues privately agreed with him.
That next day, Doggett was joined by Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, who told the New York Times that the debate represented an "opportunity to look elsewhere."
"What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race," said Grijalva. Both men are in their mid-to-late 70s and represent solidly Democratic seats.
Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts later joined them, telling a local radio affiliate that Biden should "step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump."
On Friday, July 5, shortly before Biden's interview with ABC News was set to air, Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois said on MSBNC that Biden should "let someone else do this."
BREAKING: Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) calls on Biden to exit the race:
"Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else… pic.twitter.com/tnWOxja5lF
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) July 5, 2024
And the following Saturday morning, Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota became the first swing-district Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw, saying in a statement that she does "not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump."
Separately, two members of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition — Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington — said that they believe Biden will lose to Trump, but did not explicitly call on him to withdraw. Sen. Michael Bennett of Colorado went on CNN to say the same thing.
Golden went as far as to say that he is "OK" with Trump winning, saying he rejects the idea that Trump is a "unique threat to our democracy."
On Wednesday, July 10, Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont became the first Democratic senator to call for Biden to drop out.
And on Thursday, July 11, six more House Democrats called on Biden to step aside, including two who did so immediately after his high-stakes press conference.
A "pronatalist" couple is trying to address the falling birth rate by having 7 to 12 kids.
But they aren't planning on footing the bill for all those kids to attend college someday.
Instead, they want the kids to run cash positive businesses or be published in journals by age 18.
College is expensive enough with just one or two kids. But what if you have 7, 10, or 12?
The ideal number of children for Malcolm and Simone Collins, a "pronatalist" couple who aim to save humanity with their prolific procreation, is in the double digits. They already have four young kids, and Malcolm recently wrote that they would like "at leastseven, but ideally as many as twelve" in an article published in The Free Press.
But they argue just because they're giving their kids the gift of life — and, in their view, giving the planet the gift of a better future — doesn't mean they should have to open their wallets to cover hefty college bills for elite universities.
After all, they don't even pay for indoor heating in their Pennsylvania home during winter. Simone Collins said in an email to Business Insiderthat the couple "would much rather save our money for IVF and be able to have more kids than be extra comfy in the winter, plus none of our kids mind the cold (they actually report, unprompted, to love the cold)."
"We can't afford elite education for over seven — let alone four —children, so we're building an elite education in-house," Simone Collins said, referring to the Collins Institute, a lab school the couple founded formiddle school-age to post-graduate students.
"It covers from when someone can read to mid-way through a Ph.D. in most subjects," Malcolm Collins said. "The most expensive part about having a kid, if you're a middle-class American, is the social expectation that you're going to pay for them to go to college."
He later noted his grandmother paid for his education at the University of St Andrews and Stanford University. Simone worked while on a scholarship to George Washington University, and Malcolm covered her master's degree at the University of Cambridge.
While the couple hopes to inspire new leagues of parents to tackle the falling birth rate, they're also challenging traditional parental expectations about providing for their children.
"By the time they reachthe age where a normal kid would be going to college, they should have a cash-positive business that pays for their lifestyle, or they should be published in a major journal which can help them get into a good college," Malcolm Collins said, admitting he finds it "relatively unremarkable" to be published before college. "This happens all the time. I was actually working on a paper before starting college but after getting into my top choice in the first couple month[s] of the school year I never submitted it."
In his view, any teen could devise the same business plan as an adult. If it's a good idea from one of his future teens, Collins is willing to invest in their companies "to make money for the family," but the goal is for his kids to have "financial security."
"We are aiming for that as a goal. Do I think we'll hit that with all of our kids? Are we going to kick a kid out on the street if they hit 18?" he said. "No, not at all."