Reid Hoffman

About

Reid Hoffman is an American Internet entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and author best known as the co-founder and former executive chairman of LinkedIn, the world's largest professional networking platform. Born in Palo Alto, California, Hoffman studied symbolic systems at Stanford University before earning a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Oxford. After early career roles at Apple and Fujitsu, he founded SocialNet.com in 1997, one of the earliest online social networks. In 2000, he joined PayPal as Executive Vice President, playing a critical role in its growth and subsequent acquisition by eBay in 2002. Later that year, Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn, officially launching the service in 2003 and guiding it to an initial public offering in 2011 and its eventual acquisition by Microsoft for $26.2 billion in 2016. Beyond LinkedIn, Hoffman joined venture capital firm Greylock Partners as a partner in 2009, making high-impact investments in startups including Facebook, Airbnb, Dropbox, and Figma. Recognized as a prominent thought leader in Silicon Valley, he has co-authored several bestselling books, including The Start-Up of You and Blitzscaling. In recent years, Hoffman has focused heavily on artificial intelligence, co-founding ventures like Inflection AI and Manas AI while supporting philanthropic and political initiatives.

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