Zaidi studied economics as an undergraduate and in his PhD program. After graduating from MIT, he worked for a fantasy sports outfit in New York. As an executive with Oakland, he founded a league for the organization's front office where "he was the commissioner and the defending champion more often than not," Oakland general manager David Forst said. Zaidi worried about the ethical complications of competing against his own players — although that did not stop him from once blitzing a collection of A's in a poker tournament.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 23, 2018 19:30 UTC