Photo: U.S. Secretary of Defense, CC BY 2.0

Reid Hoffman

Co-founder of LinkedIn and partner at Greylock^{Source [2]}^{Source [3]}

Social networksVenture capitalArtificial intelligenceScaling startupsDrug discovery

Unclaimed profileLast verified Oct 2, 2026

About

Reid Hoffman is an entrepreneur and venture investor best known as a co-founder of LinkedIn, the professional network that launched in 2003 and was acquired by Microsoft in 2016. He is a partner at Greylock and an independent director of Microsoft.^{Source [1]}^{Source [2]}^{Source [3]}

Before LinkedIn he worked in product roles at Apple and Fujitsu, co-founded the online community service SocialNet.com in 1997, sat on the board of Confinity and was an executive vice president at PayPal from 2000 to 2002.^{Source [4]}^{Source [5]}

He led LinkedIn as CEO twice, in 2003 to 2007 and 2008 to 2009, and chaired its board from 2010 until the Microsoft acquisition. He joined Greylock in November 2009 and has been listed as a partner, rather than a general partner, since 2023.^{Source [5]}^{Source [2]}

Since 2022 he has co-founded two AI companies: Inflection AI, with Mustafa Suleyman and Karén Simonyan, and Manas AI, a drug discovery company with Siddhartha Mukherjee launched in 2025.^{Source [6]}^{Source [7]}^{Source [8]}

He hosts the podcasts Masters of Scale and Possible and has written or co-written books including The Start-up of You, Blitzscaling and Superagency.^{Source [3]}^{Source [9]}^{Source [10]}

Watch

Reid Hoffman meets his AI twin - Full by Reid Hoffman on YouTube

Career

SocialNet.com

1997 to 2000

Confinity

1998 to 2000

PayPal

2000 to 2002

2002 to 2016

2009 to now

2017 to now

2022

2025

Company	Years	Role	Status
Manas AI Co-founded the AI drug discovery company with Siddhartha Mukherjee; it launched in January 2025 with seed funding led by General Catalyst and Hoffman.^{Source [7]}^{Source [12]} Launched Manas AI with oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee on January 27, 2025, with $24.6 million in seed funding led by General Catalyst with participation from Greylock.^{Source [7]}^{Source [11]} The company focuses first on triple-negative breast cancer, prostate cancer and lymphoma, using Microsoft Azure for compute.^{Source [7]} Manas announced a $26 million seed extension in September 2025, bringing total funding to $50.6 million; Mukherjee is CEO.^{Source [13]} Suggest a correction to Manas AI	2025	Co-founder^{Source [7]}^{Source [11]}^{Source [8]}	Active
Inflection AI Co-founded Inflection AI in 2022 with Mustafa Suleyman and Karén Simonyan. Greylock lists him as a board director of the company.^{Source [6]}^{Source [14]}^{Source [3]} Inflection raised $225 million in equity financing in May 2022, months after it was founded.^{Source [15]} Was among the investors named in Inflection's $1.3 billion round in June 2023, alongside Microsoft, Nvidia, Bill Gates and Eric Schmidt.^{Source [16]} In March 2024 co-founders Mustafa Suleyman and Karén Simonyan joined Microsoft and Sean White became Inflection's CEO.^{Source [6]} Suggest a correction to Inflection AI	2022	Co-founder^{Source [6]}^{Source [14]}^{Source [8]}Board director^{Source [3]}	Active
Microsoft Independent director of Microsoft since 2017, the year after Microsoft acquired LinkedIn.^{Source [2]}^{Source [17]} Serves on the Environmental, Social and Public Policy Committee of Microsoft's board, per the 2025 proxy statement.^{Source [2]} Suggest a correction to Microsoft	2017 to now	Board member^{Source [2]}^{Source [17]}	IPO
Greylock Joined the venture firm in November 2009 as a general partner and has been listed as a partner since 2023; he was not a founder of the firm.^{Source [5]}^{Source [2]}^{Source [3]} Joined Greylock as a partner in November 2009.^{Source [5]} Has served on the boards of Greylock portfolio companies including Aurora, Entrepreneur First, Inflection and Nauto.^{Source [3]} Greylock lists Airbnb, Aurora, Coda and Neeva among the notable outcomes from his investments.^{Source [3]} Suggest a correction to Greylock	2009 to now	Partner^{Source [2]}^{Source [3]}General Partner^{Source [2]}^{Source [5]}	Active
LinkedIn Co-founded LinkedIn, which began in his living room in 2002, and served twice as CEO. He was chair of its board and its controlling shareholder when Microsoft agreed to acquire it in 2016.^{Source [1]}^{Source [5]}^{Source [19]} Served on LinkedIn's board from March 2003 and was appointed chair in December 2010.^{Source [5]} Led the company as CEO from March 2003 to February 2007 and again from December 2008 to June 2009.^{Source [5]} As chair and controlling shareholder, supported Microsoft's 2016 agreement to acquire LinkedIn for $26.2 billion.^{Source [19]} Suggest a correction to LinkedIn	2002 to 2016	Co-founder^{Source [1]}^{Source [18]}Chief Executive Officer^{Source [5]}^{Source [2]}President, Products^{Source [5]}Chief Executive Officer^{Source [5]}^{Source [2]}Executive Chair^{Source [5]}Chair of the board^{Source [5]}^{Source [2]}	Acquired
PayPal Joined PayPal in January 2000 and served as executive vice president of business development until October 2002.^{Source [4]}^{Source [5]} Joined PayPal in January 2000 and held senior vice president roles in business development and international before becoming EVP of business development in May 2000.^{Source [4]} Suggest a correction to PayPal	2000 to 2002	Executive Vice President^{Source [5]}^{Source [2]}	IPO
Confinity Served as a director of Confinity from December 1998 to January 2000.^{Source [4]} Suggest a correction to Confinity	1998 to 2000	Board member^{Source [4]}	Merged
SocialNet.com Co-founded SocialNet.com in August 1997 and worked there in various roles until January 2000.^{Source [4]} Co-founded SocialNet.com, described in PayPal's filing as an Internet community service company, after working in product development at Fujitsu from 1996 to 1997.^{Source [4]} Suggest a correction to SocialNet.com	1997 to 2000	Co-founder^{Source [4]}^{Source [10]}	Status unknown

Milestones

2025-09Manas AI announced a $26 million seed extension, bringing its total funding to $50.6 million.^{Source [13]}
2025-01Launched Manas AI, an AI drug discovery company, with Siddhartha Mukherjee.^{Source [7]}^{Source [11]}
2024-03Inflection co-founders Mustafa Suleyman and Karén Simonyan left to join Microsoft, and Sean White became Inflection's CEO.^{Source [6]}
2023-03Stepped down from OpenAI's board to avoid potential conflicts of interest.^{Source [20]}
2022Co-founded Inflection AI with Mustafa Suleyman and Karén Simonyan.^{Source [6]}^{Source [15]}
2017Joined Microsoft's board of directors.^{Source [2]}
2017Received an honorary CBE for services to promoting UK business and social networking and the Marshall Scholarship scheme.^{Source [21]}
2017-05Launched the Masters of Scale podcast.^{Source [22]}^{Source [3]}
2016-06As LinkedIn's chair, backed Microsoft's agreement to acquire the company for $26.2 billion.^{Source [19]}
2010-12Appointed chair of LinkedIn's board.^{Source [5]}
2009-11Joined Greylock as a partner.^{Source [5]}
2003-05LinkedIn launched publicly after starting in his living room in 2002.^{Source [1]}
2000-01Joined PayPal, later becoming executive vice president of business development.^{Source [4]}
1997-08Co-founded SocialNet.com.^{Source [4]}

Boards, investments and other roles

Organization	Role	Years
Aurora InnovationBoard	Board member^{Source [2]}^{Source [3]}
Reinvent CapitalInvestor	Advisory Partner^{Source [2]}	2019 to now
Possible (podcast)Media	Co-host^{Source [9]}^{Source [3]}
Masters of Scale (podcast)Media	Host^{Source [3]}^{Source [22]}	2017
EndeavorNonprofit	Board member^{Source [3]}
Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AINonprofit	Board member^{Source [3]}
Berggruen InstituteNonprofit	Board member^{Source [3]}
OpenAIBoard	Board member^{Source [20]}^{Source [10]}	2023
Joby AviationBoard	Board member^{Source [2]}
ZyngaBoard	Board member^{Source [5]}	2008 to 2014
Kiva.orgNonprofit	Board member^{Source [5]}^{Source [10]}
Mozilla CorporationBoard	Board member^{Source [5]}

Education

University of Oxford, Master's degree, Philosophy 1993^{Source [4]}^{Source [3]}^{Source [23]}
Stanford University, B.S., Symbolic Systems 1990^{Source [4]}^{Source [3]}

Books

Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future 2025, Co-author^{Source [24]}^{Source [3]}^{Source [10]}
Impromptu: Amplifying Our Humanity Through AI 2023^{Source [3]}^{Source [10]}
Masters of Scale: Surprising Truths from the World's Most Successful Entrepreneurs 2021, Co-author^{Source [3]}^{Source [22]}
Blitzscaling 2018, Co-author^{Source [3]}^{Source [10]}
The Alliance 2014, Co-author^{Source [3]}^{Source [25]}^{Source [10]}
The Start-up of You 2012, Co-author^{Source [25]}^{Source [3]}^{Source [10]}

Honors

Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) 2017^{Source [21]}^{Source [23]}
Salute to Greatness Award, The King Center 2012^{Source [3]}^{Source [10]}
Marshall Scholarship 1990^{Source [23]}

Links

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Sources

About LinkedIn, LinkedIn. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Microsoft Corporation 2025 Proxy Statement (DEF 14A), SEC EDGAR, 2025-10-21. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Reid Hoffman, Greylock. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
PayPal, Inc. Registration Statement (Form S-1/A), SEC EDGAR, 2002-02-14. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
LinkedIn Corporation 2016 Proxy Statement (DEF 14A), SEC EDGAR, 2016-04-22. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Microsoft hires Inflection founders to run new consumer AI division, TechCrunch, 2024-03-19. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Manas AI Launches to Transform Discovery of Novel Cancer Medicines, Manas AI, 2025-01-27. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Reid Hoffman, reidhoffman.org. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Possible, Possible podcast. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Reid Hoffman, Wikipedia. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Reid Hoffman's Manas AI raises $24.6M, a fraction of other AI drug discovery startups, TechCrunch, 2025-01-27. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Reid Hoffman launches Manas AI, a new drug discovery startup, CNBC, 2025-02-02. Accessed Sep 28, 2026.
Manas AI Announces $26M Seed Extension and the Appointment of Ujjwal Singh as Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Manas AI, 2025-09-23. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Inflection AI, Wikipedia. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Inflection AI, led by LinkedIn and DeepMind co-founders, raises $225M to transform computer-human interactions, TechCrunch, 2022-05-13. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Microsoft-backed AI startup Inflection raises $1.3 billion from Nvidia and others, Reuters (via Investing.com), 2023-06-29. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Board of directors, Microsoft. Accessed Sep 28, 2026.
LinkedIn, Wikipedia. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn, Microsoft, 2016-06-13. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
OpenAI's long-time backer Reid Hoffman leaves board, Reuters (via KFGO), 2023-03-03. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Honorary awards 2017, UK Government (GOV.UK). Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Masters of Scale, Wikipedia. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Reid Hoffman, Association of Marshall Scholars. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future, superagency.ai. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
The Startup of You, startupofyou.com. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.

History

Sep 28, 2026: Profile created from public sources (Founded editors)
Oct 2, 2026: Enriched with about, education, other roles, milestones, books, awards and links (Founded editors)

Compiled by Founded editors from the cited public sources. Editorial policy / Request removal