Zenefits officially has a new boss in town. Jay Fulcher, the former CEO of Ooyala and Agile Software, is taking over for David Sacks, the Wall Street Journal first reported. Fulcher is the third person in the last 12 months to serve as chief executive officer of Zenefits.
Last February, Zenefits then-CEO Parker Conrad exited the company amid the company’s compliance and regulatory issues. In an attempt to get Zenefits back on track, David Sacks, the COO at the time, took over as CEO. Then, this past December, Sacks said he would step down and was actively looking for a replacement.
Excited to pass torch today to new Zenefits CEO @jbfulcher, an accomplished leader. Ultimate validation of team's hard work over past year.
— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) February 6, 2017
The appointment of Fulcher is apparently the “last step in a planned transition that began one year ago this week,” Sacks wrote in an email to Zenefits employees obtained by TechCrunch. He went on to say that he feels fortunate to be passing on the reigns to Fuclher, “a seasoned leader with deep experience in both HR and SaaS, whose energy, experience and leadership line up perfectly with what the company needs right now.”
Fulcher referred to his new role as a “rare opportunity,” he wrote in an email to employees obtained by TechCrunch. He also recognized that the last year at Zenefits has been “rough” and full of change.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco | October 13-15, 2026
“But, despite that, I am really excited about this opportunity,” Fulcher wrote. “I joined Zenefits because I believe this company can be an innovative and disruptive force in the industry – and is poised to make a huge impact.”
Megan Rose Dickey is a senior reporter at TechCrunch focused on labor, transportation, and diversity and inclusion in tech. She previously spent two years at Business Insider covering tech startups focused on the shared economy, IoT and music industry. She graduated from the University of Southern California in 2011 with a degree in Broadcast and Digital Journalism. – See more at: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/megan-rose-dickey#sthash.ir4VFt2z.dpuf PGP fingerprint for email is: 2FA7 6E54 4652 781A B365 BE2E FBD7 9C5F 3DAE 56BD