Reid Hoffman to Leave Microsoft Board at Year-End to Focus on New AI-Biopharma Venture

Reid Hoffman will leave Microsoft's board of directors at the end of the year. The LinkedIn co-founder informed the board of his decision not to run for reelection on Tuesday, Microsoft said in a filing released Friday. He will remain a director until the company's annual meeting, which will be held at the end of the year.

Hoffman, 58, co-founded LinkedIn in 2002. Microsoft bought the company for $27 billion in 2016, and Hoffman joined the board early the next year. He was also an early funder of OpenAI when it launched in 2015 and sat on its board until 2023.

Hoffman stepped down from OpenAI's board in 2023 to avoid conflicts as Microsoft allied itself closely with the company. "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," he wrote at the time. Hoffman is now a co-founder of Manas, an AI-native biopharmaceutical company.

In recent days he indicated to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella that he should focus on that project. "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 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 the company. Suleyman is now CEO of Microsoft AI. Before starting LinkedIn, Hoffman was an executive vice president at PayPal.

He became a general partner at venture firm Greylock in 2009. Hoffman appeared in a Bloomberg Television interview in London on Monday, March 24, 2025. The Justice Department released documents showing communications between Hoffman and financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Hoffman has apologized for associating with Epstein. Hoffman has long been a donor to Democratic political campaigns. 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.