David Benioff (born around 1970) is an American writer.

Born David Friedman in New York City, he changed his name to David Benioff, his mother's maiden name. His mother was a Russian immigrant. He is the youngest of three, with 2 sisters, Suzy Cohen and Caroline Levy. Benioff is a Dartmouth College alumnus. He worked as a club bouncer and at 22 became a high school English teacher at Poly Prep in Brooklyn, New York City. Additionally, he attended the University of California Irvine and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in the creative writing program.

While working as a high school English teacher, he wrote the book called The 25th Hour and received positive recognition for the book. He later adapted the book into a screenplay, which was filmed starring Edward Norton and was directed by Spike Lee. He then wrote a collection of short stories titled When the Nines Roll Over (And Other Stories) in 2004.