Reid Garrett Hoffman (born August 5, 1967) is an American Internet entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, and author. He is best known as the co-founder and former executive chairman of LinkedIn, a business-oriented social network. Hoffman also co-founded the AI companies Inflection AI and Manas AI, and has been a major investor in OpenAI and numerous other Artificial intelligence startups through his venture capital firm Greylock Partners.
Hoffman has been an influential figure in political circles, a member of the Bilderberg Group since at least 2011 and the Council on Foreign Relations since 2015. He has actively participated in political funding and advocacy, contributing to various campaigns and organizations, and has been a vocal proponent of democratic institutions and humanism in technological innovation. As of May 2026, Forbes estimates his net worth to be $2.7 billion.
Early life and education
Hoffman was born on August 5, 1967, in Palo Alto, California. He was a year old when his parents, who were both attorneys, got divorced. Hoffman was an avid table-top role-playing gamer as a child and worked as an editor at the game company Chaosium, then based in Oakland, California, near his home.
Hoffman attended high school at the progressive Putney School in Vermont, where he engaged in farming activities. He graduated from Stanford University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in symbolic systems and cognitive science. He was awarded a Marshall Scholarship for graduate study abroad, and he earned a Master of Studies (MSt) in philosophy from Wolfson College, Oxford, in 1993.
His paternal great-great-great-grandfather was Theophilus Adam Wylie, a Christian Presbyterian minister and Indiana University president pro tempore. Hoffman's uncle, Eric Hoffman, is a writer.
Career beginnings and PayPal
Hoffman joined Apple in 1994, where he worked on eWorld, an early attempt at building an online service. AOL acquired eWorld in 1996. He later worked at Fujitsu before co-founding his first company, SocialNet.com, in 1997, which focused on online dating and matching people with similar interests.
Hoffman was a member of PayPal's board of directors at the time it was founded. In January 2000, he left SocialNet and joined PayPal full-time as the company's COO. In June 2000, after a reorganization by then-CEO Elon Musk, Hoffman became PayPal's Senior VP of Business Development.
LinkedIn and Microsoft
Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn in December 2002 with former colleagues from SocialNet and Fujitsu. LinkedIn launched on May 5, 2003, as one of the first business-oriented online social networks. Peter Thiel, a PayPal colleague, invested in the company. At LinkedIn's IPO on May 19, 2011, Hoffman's stake was worth an estimated $2.34 billion, not including potential benefits from Greylock Partners, where he became a partner in 2009.
Microsoft proposed to acquire LinkedIn on June 13, 2016, for $26.2 billion in cash. Hoffman joined Microsoft's board on March 14, 2017.
Artificial intelligence ventures
OpenAI
In 2016, Hoffman was among the first donors to OpenAI, a non-profit AI research organization. After Elon Musk left the board in February 2018, OpenAI faced financial challenges. Hoffman helped transition OpenAI to a "capped-profit" model, establishing a for-profit subsidiary to attract investment. He led the investment through his family foundation and joined the board. On March 3, 2023, Hoffman resigned from the board to avoid conflicts with his AI investments and his role at Inflection AI.
Inflection AI
In March 2022, Hoffman co-founded Inflection AI with Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind. The company aimed to develop AI software for human-computer communication. In March 2024, Microsoft licensed Inflection's technology and hired Suleyman, CSO Karén Simonyan, and most employees in a deal reportedly worth $650 million. Inflection then shifted to enterprise AI under new CEO Sean White.
Manas AI and ReidAI
In January 2025, Hoffman launched Manas AI, an AI-enabled drug discovery startup, with cancer researcher Siddhartha Mukherjee, backed by about $25 million in initial funding.
In April 2024, Hoffman interviewed an AI deepfake of himself, built on GPT-4 and trained on his public materials. He said the purpose was to show positive uses of AI.
Other investments and views
In late 2022, Hoffman invested in JusticeText, a platform for public defenders to analyze video evidence. By May 2023, Hoffman and Greylock had invested in at least 37 AI companies, including Tome. Hoffman has dismissed calls to pause AI development, calling them "foolish" and "anti-humanist," and advocates accelerating AI to solve societal problems.
Personal life and influence
Hoffman has authored books on networking and entrepreneurship, and hosts a podcast. He is a member of the Bilderberg Group and the Council on Foreign Relations, and has been active in political funding. His uncle, Eric Hoffman, is a writer.