• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

2

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

3

Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026

1

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

2

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

3

Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
TechZenefits

Zenefits’ Investigation Leaves Some Questions Unanswered

By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 9, 2016, 5:26 PM ET
Zenefits Chief Executive Officer Parker Conrad And Chief Operating Officer David Sacks Interview
Parker Conrad, co-founder and chief executive officer of Zenefits, left, smiles as David Sacks, co-founder of PayPal and chief operating officer of Zenefits, speaks during a Bloomberg West television interview in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014. Zenefits, a human-resources software maker, said Sacks, the co-founder of Yammer, will join as the company's first chief operating officer and director of the 18-month-old startup. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPhotograph by Paul Morris—Bloomberg via Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Human resources software startup Zenefits has published the results of an investigation into corporate misbehavior that cleared the current CEO from any involvement while pinning the blame on his predecessor.

The findings on Monday said that new CEO, former PayPal executive David Sacks, had no knowledge of a computer system used to fraudulently skip require study time for insurance licensing in California that led to the departure of co-founder Parker Conrad. The software let sales staff avoid spending the 52 hours of required preparation for their licensing test, in violation of state requirements.

The report, written by an outside law firm hired by Zenefits, also left a number of unanswered questions as to how it managed to skirt licensing regulations for so long.

The report paint a picture of a fast-and-loose startup whose regulatory corner-cutting has cost the company a lot. The company, whose last funding round gave it a valuation of $4.5 billion, also had to cut 250 jobs in February as part of its process of getting back on track.

Sacks, who joined the company in late 2014 as its chief operating officer, didn’t find out about the software until last fall after an unnamed employee blew the whistle on it, the report asserted. The report claims that Sacks, who was ostensibly in charge of day-to-day operations, was totally out of the loop about a key part of the company’s operations.

Sacks and Joshua Stein, then the company’s vice president of litigation and regulations, first raised concerns to Conrad about the software in November, the report said. But Conrad didn’t admit he had created it until January—and then only after Stein and Zenefits’ general counsel, Hillary Smith, told him they were hiring an outside law firm to look into the matter, according to the report.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

More than anything, the report paints of a picture of how Zenefits’ organizational structure and Conrad’s tight grip on control managed to keep Sacks completely in the dark. Because Zenefits’ sales team reported entirely to Conrad, Sacks had no idea about the software—or even what employees have to do to obtain their insurance brokering license, according to the report.

“Because Mr. Sacks never sought to obtain an insurance license himself, this was also the first time that he saw the licensing application and learned of the 52 hour pre-licensing education requirement,” the report said.

The company says that Sacks’ responsibilities only covered product management, finance, partnerships, and operations such as customer support. “Since the time David joined the company as COO, sales and legal/regulatory issues reported directly to founder and then-CEO Parker Conrad, who had maintained that Zenefits’ licensing was in compliance and that any examples to the contrary were isolated cases that had been quickly corrected,” Zenefits spokeswoman Jessica Hoffman told Fortune.

Over the last few months, Zenefits said it has overhauled its executive team, created a new board of directors, and fired sales managers who circulated the illegal software. It also created its first team to oversee regulatory compliance by promoting Stein to that role.

The report didn’t address why it took Zenefits, which operates in a highly regulated industry, this long to appoint a head of compliance.

“The absence of a compliance team was a decision made by the previous CEO, Hoffman told Fortune. “Its absence was something that was immediately rectified once David Sacks became CEO when he made former federal prosecutor Josh Stein as Chief Compliance Officer. His team now has 9 professionals on it with plans to add three more.”

Also on Monday, a report from BuzzFeed, citing anonymous sources said that Conrad sold $10 million in Zenefits stock last year, months before his resignation. Conrad also negotiated with the company’s board for $130,000 in severance when he resigned, according to the report.

A person close to Conrad told Bloomberg Businessweek that “he regrets resigning and is already working on a new company.” Founded in 2013 by Conrad and Laks Srini, Zenefits has raised $584 million to date.

About the Author
By Kia Kokalitcheva
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Institute's Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel,on May 6, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
RetailSpaceX
Elon Musk was the world’s first trillionaire for 12 days
By Eva RoytburgJune 24, 2026
16 minutes ago
President Donald Trump pictured in September 2025 signing an executive order that overhauled the H-1B visa program.
EconomyImmigration
Trump’s international student crackdown kicked off a domino effect that could shave nearly $500 billion off the economy
By Tristan BoveJune 24, 2026
2 hours ago
How Home Depot is rebuilding retailing with AI
NewslettersCIO Intelligence
How Home Depot is rebuilding retailing with AI
By John KellJune 24, 2026
3 hours ago
bob
AIbooks
Robert Wright sees an ‘earthquake’ coming from AI that goes far beyond jobs: ‘cultural, political, personal, family, psychological’
By Nick LichtenbergJune 24, 2026
3 hours ago
A man wearing a red and black jacket and a red hat walks down a hallway lined with servers.
InnovationChina
For the first time since 2017, it’s China, not the U.S., that has the world’s most powerful supercomputer
By The Associated PressJune 24, 2026
4 hours ago
Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy scion and sardonic social media star, loses in bid for New York state assembly
PoliticsPolitics
Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy scion and sardonic social media star, loses in bid for New York state assembly
By The Associated Press, Danny Peltz and Anthony IzaguirreJune 24, 2026
5 hours ago

Most Popular

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
Success
After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
Economy
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
By Jacqueline MunisJune 24, 2026
13 hours ago
Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of gold as of June 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of June 23, 2026
By Danny BakstJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
Texas and Charlotte used to build huge McMansions—now they're copying the California design tricks they once mocked
Real Estate
Texas and Charlotte used to build huge McMansions—now they're copying the California design tricks they once mocked
By Sydney LakeJune 22, 2026
2 days ago
Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
Banking
Markets tumble worldwide as Fed resets expectations: $400 billion wiped off SpaceX stock
By Jim EdwardsJune 23, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.