Reid Hoffman is an American Internet entrepreneur and investor, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of LinkedIn. He is also a Partner at Greylock Partners, a venture capital company. With a net worth of over US$2 billion, Hoffman is ranked among the top billionaires in the world.

Early Years

Reid Hoffman spent his years growing up in Berkeley, California, in the United States. He attended Putney School. As a child, he enjoyed playing tabletop role-playing games. At only 12, Hoffman had his first paying job – as an editor at Chaosium, a local gaming company. Two years later, Hoffman’s name featured beside top game designers on the box of the newly released ‘Borderlands’, a role-playing game.

In 1990, Hoffman graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science and Symbolic Systems. He was awarded the Dinkelspiel award, as well as the Marshall Scholarship, after which he enrolled at Wolfson College, Oxford University, and attained a degree in Philosophy.

Business Ventures

Reid Hoffman initially saw his academic pursuits as an opportunity to have a large-scale impact on the world. However, he soon realized that academic books reach a specific and limited group of people. He wanted to reach a larger audience and concluded that he would achieve a larger platform through entrepreneurial ventures. After completing an internship at a wine farm, Hoffman began his professional career in the technology sector with Apple Computer, where he worked to create a social media platform called eWorld. In 1997, the entrepreneur launched his first company, SocialNet.com, an online matchmaking and dating site. Hoffman was also famously one of the board members of PayPal as it was being launched. In 2000, he was appointed COO of PayPal, responsible for the company’s payments infrastructure, government, legal regulations, business development, and external relationships. In 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for US$1.5 billion, and he became Executive Vice President of the company. In the same year, the entrepreneur co-founded LinkedIn.

LinkedIn

Officially launched in 2003, co-founded by Hoffman, LinkedIn is one of the world’s first business-focused social platforms. The platform currently has 875 million users across over 200 countries and territories. For the first four years, Hoffman held the role of founding CEO before being appointed as Chairman and President of Products, a role he held from 2007 until 2009, when he became Executive Chairman. With a significant stake in LinkedIn worth around $2.34 billion, Hoffman was named Partner in 2009. In 2016, the company was sold to Microsoft for $26.2 billion, and Hoffman moved to sit on Microsoft’s board.

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In 2022, Hoffman Co-founded Inflection AI alongside Mustafa Suleyman. Inflection has developed a machine reading technology to increase user efficiency. As well as producing generative artificial intelligence apps and software for companies and corporations.

Remarkable Investments

After PayPal was sold to eBay, Hoffman became known as one of the most successful and prolific angel investors in Silicon Valley. In 2010, he joined Greylock Partners, where he ran US$20 million Discovery Fund for just over a decade. He is focused on enterprise software, consumer Internet, social gaming, online marketplaces, payments, mobile, and social network platforms.

Philanthropy

Hoffman is recognized for his philanthropic efforts, being #2 on the Forbes Midas list as of October 2025.

Hoffman serves on several not-for-profit boards, including Kiva, Endeavor, CZI Biohub, the Berggruen Institute, New America, the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, and the MacArthur Foundation’s Lever for Change.

Reid has received various awards for his philanthropic work, including an honorary CBE from the Queen of England and the Salute to Greatness Award from the Martin Luther King Center.

Hoffman is also noted for generously supporting the democratic party. In the 2024 election campaign cycle, Hoffman donated almost $2 million to the Granite For America SuperPAC, which endorses Joe Biden.

Hoffman and his wife, Michelle Yee, are members of the Giving Pledge, where wealthy individuals pledge to give back the majority of their wealth to different philanthropic causes.

Latest News

In 2023, Hoffman left his board seat at OpenAI to avoid any conflict of interest with other investments, specifically as the founder of InflectionAI.

Hoffman recently removed himself as a partner at Greylock for their upcoming funds, hoping to focus more on his pursuits in artificial intelligence. The entrepreneur is also an investor in California Forever.

Following the publication of his book Superagency, which covers a fascinating perspective on AI technology, Hoffman participated in a 2025 interview with The Guardian, delving into his anticipation for the future of AI.