Reid Hoffman
Born 1967 · Age 58
American entrepreneur, investor, podcaster and author; co-founder and former executive chairman of LinkedIn; partner at Greylock; co-founder of Inflection AI and Manas AI; prominent investor and AI philanthropist.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Palo Alto, California
Reid Garrett Hoffman is born in Palo Alto, California to two attorney parents.
Worked with Chaosium (early gaming/editor role)
As a child/young teen Hoffman worked as an editor/consultant for game company Chaosium (Oakland); an early exposure to games and editing.
Attended The Putney School (high school)
Attended progressive Putney School in Vermont for high school, engaged in farming and hands-on learning.
Graduated Stanford University (BS Symbolic Systems)
Earned a Bachelor of Science in symbolic systems and cognitive science from Stanford University.
Awarded Marshall Scholarship
Received a Marshall Scholarship to study in the UK for graduate work.
Completed MSt in Philosophy at Oxford
Earned a Master of Studies (MSt) in philosophy from Wolfson College, University of Oxford.
Joined Apple (worked on eWorld)
Joined Apple Computer and worked on eWorld, an early online service/social experiment.
Apple's eWorld sold to AOL
Apple’s eWorld project (which Hoffman worked on) was acquired by AOL.
Worked at Fujitsu
After Apple, Hoffman held a role at Fujitsu (prior to launching his first startup).
Founded SocialNet.com
Co-founded SocialNet.com, an early online dating/social-matching service focused on matching people with similar interests.
Involved with early PayPal (board member at founding)
Was a member of the founding board of PayPal (connected via Peter Thiel and PayPal founders).
Joined PayPal full-time as COO/EVP
Left SocialNet and joined PayPal full-time in January 2000 as Chief Operating Officer / Executive Vice President.
Became PayPal Senior VP of Business Development
Following an executive reorganization by CEO Elon Musk, Hoffman became Senior VP of Business Development (June 2000).
eBay acquired PayPal
PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion; Hoffman's sale proceeds enabled later investing and entrepreneurship.
Co-founded LinkedIn
Co-founded LinkedIn in his living room with former colleagues from SocialNet and Fujitsu (including Allen Blue).
Served as LinkedIn CEO (first four years)
Hoffman served as LinkedIn's Chief Executive Officer during the company's first four years and led it toward profitability.
LinkedIn launched
LinkedIn launched as one of the first business-oriented social networks.
LinkedIn reaches 4,500 members after first month
At the end of its first month LinkedIn had approximately 4,500 members.
Joined Zynga board of directors
Appointed to Zynga's board of directors (served March 2008 – June 2014).
Joined Greylock Partners (partner)
Joined venture capital firm Greylock Partners and ran a Discovery Fund focused on network-effect companies.
Led Series A for Airbnb (investment role)
Hoffman led Greylock/angel investment activity in Airbnb's early financing (credited as leading Series A involvement).
Member of Bilderberg Group (by at least this year)
Reported member and attendee of the Bilderberg Group since at least 2011.
LinkedIn IPO
LinkedIn went public; at IPO Hoffman owned a stake estimated at $2.34 billion (stake value at IPO).
Recognitions and awards (multiple)
Ranked #3 on Forbes Midas List (2012); received David Packard Medal of Achievement, MLK Jr. Salute to Greatness, Honorary Doctor of Laws (Babson) and other honors that year.
Published The Start-Up of You
Co-authored The Start-Up of You with Ben Casnocha; published in the U.S. and became a NYT and WSJ bestseller.
Co-founded FWD.us
Listed as one of the founders of FWD.us, a pro-immigration lobbying group focused on immigration reform and education policy.
Met Jeffrey Epstein at MIT (reported)
Reported meeting with Jeffrey Epstein at MIT campus in July 2013 while involved in fundraising/engagement with MIT Media Lab.
Personal fortune reported over $4.5B
By 2014 various reports estimated Hoffman's personal fortune at over $4.5 billion (reflecting public holdings and investments).
Donations and political spending (2014)
Donated $150,000 to Mayday PAC and contributed $500,000 (via independent expenditure) in support of David Chiu's State Assembly campaign efforts.
Appointed Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship
Named by President Barack Obama as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship to help develop next-generation entrepreneurs.
Early OpenAI donor (initial involvement)
Among the first donors to OpenAI (2016) and later helped transition OpenAI to a capped-profit subsidiary to attract funding.
Microsoft announced acquisition of LinkedIn ($26.2B)
Microsoft announced a $26.2 billion all-cash deal to acquire LinkedIn (announcement June 13, 2016).
Funded MIT Disobedience Award ($250K cash prize)
Funded a $250,000 MIT Disobedience Award created with Joi Ito to honor acts of disobedience resulting in positive social impact.
Donated $20M to Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (Biohub)
Reid Hoffman and Michelle Yee donated $20 million to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative for the Biohub and joined the Biohub board.
Awarded Honorary CBE
Appointed an Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to promoting UK business, social networking and the Marshall Scholarship scheme.
Joined Microsoft board of directors
Became a member of Microsoft's board (formal appointment dated March 14, 2017).
Announced Masters of Scale podcast
Announced Masters of Scale podcast (April 25, 2017); first episode launched May 3, 2017. Podcast interviews entrepreneurs and leaders.
Backer: Ethics & Governance of AI Fund and Stanford HAI support
Backed AI governance philanthropy (Ethics and Governance of AI Fund) and supported Stanford's Human-Centered AI institute, launching Hoffman-Yee grants.
Published Blitzscaling
Co-authored Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies (with Chris Yeh).
Hosted a dinner attended by Jeffrey Epstein (reported)
Reportedly hosted a dinner attended by Jeffrey Epstein along with Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg (reported 2019). Hoffman later expressed regret about interactions with Epstein.
Joined Giving Pledge (with wife Michelle Yee)
Hoffman and his wife joined the Giving Pledge, committing to give the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.
Matched donations to Second Harvest up to $2M
In response to pandemic-related need, Hoffman offered to match donations to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley up to $2,000,000.
Invested $2.2M in JusticeText (late 2022)
Invested as part of a group investing $2.2 million into JusticeText, a platform to help public defenders catalog and analyze video evidence.
Co-founded Inflection AI
Co-founded Inflection AI with Mustafa Suleyman to build AI software to improve human-computer communication (announced March 2022).
Released Impromptu (written using GPT-4)
Published Impromptu: Amplifying Our Humanity Through AI on March 13, 2023; Hoffman states he used GPT-4 in the book's creation; it became a Wall Street Journal bestseller.
Said he would not be general partner at Greylock's upcoming funds
Announced in August 2023 he will not serve as general partner for Greylock's upcoming funds but will remain a venture partner.
Resigned from OpenAI board
Resigned from his OpenAI board seat on March 3, 2023 to avoid conflicts between board duties, Greylock investments and Inflection AI role.
Received Sigillum Magnum from University of Bologna
Awarded the Sigillum Magnum during Bologna Business School commencement (September 2023).
Delivered keynote at International Journalism Festival (Perugia)
Delivered a keynote lecture at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy on balancing progress and responsibility in tech and AI.
Sat for interview with AI deepfake of himself
In April 2024 Hoffman was interviewed by an AI deepfake replica of himself built on GPT-4 trained on 20+ years of his public materials.
Microsoft deal: Inflection AI technology/license; bulk hires (~$650M reported)
In March 2024 Microsoft licensed Inflection AI tech and hired Mustafa Suleyman, Inflection CSO Karén Simonyan, and most of Inflection's ~70 employees in a deal reported around $650 million.
Reported multimillion-dollar investment in Smartmatic
July 2024 Washington Post reported Hoffman made a multimillion-dollar investment in election-technology firm Smartmatic (subject of litigation).
Launched Manas AI (co-founder with Siddhartha Mukherjee)
In January 2025 Hoffman co-founded Manas AI, an AI-enabled drug-discovery startup with Siddhartha Mukherjee; announced ~ $25M initial funding.
Forbes net worth estimate (2025)
As of 2025 Forbes estimates Hoffman's net worth at approximately $2.6 billion.
Published Superagency (with Greg Beato)
Released Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right With our AI Future (January 28, 2025); became a New York Times bestseller.
Appointed Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE School of Public Policy
Appointed Visiting Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics (February 2025).
Conferred honorary doctorate from Chiba Institute of Technology
In May 2025, Chiba Institute of Technology conferred an honorary doctorate to Hoffman (along with others) for contributions to society.
Key Achievement Ages
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