LinkedIn Co-Founder Reid Hoffman to Leave Microsoft Board to Focus on New AI Biotech Startup
Hoffman, who joined the board in 2017 after Microsoft acquired LinkedIn, will step down to focus on his AI-native biopharmaceutical startup Manas.
cnbc.comLinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman will leave Microsoft's board of directors at the end of the year. Hoffman informed the board of his decision not to run for reelection on Tuesday, and Microsoft filed the information on Friday. He will remain a director until the company's annual meeting at the end of the year.
Hoffman, 58, co-founded LinkedIn in 2002. Microsoft bought the company for $27 billion in 2016. He joined Microsoft's board in 2017. Hoffman was one of OpenAI's first donors when it launched as a nonprofit in 2015.
He left the OpenAI board in 2023 to avoid conflicts as Microsoft allied itself closely to OpenAI. "By stepping off the board, I can proactively put to rest any downstream potential issues for both OpenAI and all Greylock portfolio companies I've backed," Hoffman wrote at the time. Hoffman is a co-founder of Manas, an AI-native biopharmaceutical company.
He indicated to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in recent days that he should focus on that startup. "At the end of the year, I should really be transitioning right now to being in founder mode," Hoffman said on a podcast with Nadella released on Friday. Hoffman was also a co-founder of artificial intelligence startup Inflection alongside Mustafa Suleyman.
In 2024, Microsoft announced that Suleyman and several other Inflection employees were joining Microsoft. Suleyman is now CEO of Microsoft AI. Hoffman has been embroiled in controversy. The Justice Department released documents showing communications between Hoffman and financier Jeffrey Epstein, who had been arrested on child sex trafficking charges before dying by suicide in a New York prison.
Hoffman has apologized for associating with Epstein. Reuters reported last week that the Justice Department was investigating a group with ties to Hoffman over contributions to E. Jean Carroll's legal battles against President Donald Trump.
"He is investigating me because I supported E Jean's lawsuit — where a jury found Trump liable for sexually assaulting her, and a court of appeals upheld the decision," Hoffman wrote on X. Before starting LinkedIn, Hoffman was an executive vice president at PayPal. He has also been a prominent venture capitalist, becoming a general partner at venture firm Greylock in 2009.
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