Reid Garrett Hoffman (born August 5, 1967) is an American internet entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, and author. Hoffman was the co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn, a business-oriented social network used primarily for professional networking. He is currently a partner at the venture capital firm Greylock Partners and a co-founder of Inflection AI.
What is Reid Hoffman’s Net Worth?
Reid Hoffman is an American internet entrepreneur and venture capitalist who has a net worth of $3 billion. Reid Hoffman is best known as the co-founder of the online social network LinkedIn. He also co-founded the AI software company Inflection AI, and is a partner at the venture capital firm Greylock Partners, through which he is a prolific angel investor. Before his success with LinkedIn, Reid was a high-level executive at PayPal, ultimately rising to an Executive Vice President. At PayPal, Hoffman’s responsibilities included all external relationships (including payments infrastructure), business development, international, government and legal. He was instrumental to the company’s acquisition by eBay and responsible for partnerships with Intuit, Visa, MasterCard and Wells Fargo. Prior to joining PayPal in 1998, Hoffman was the founder of (failed) online dating site SocialNet, which some regard as the first online social network.
Reid Hoffman famously was one of the earliest investors in Facebook. He was also one of the earliest investor in his friend Mark Pincus‘ gaming company Zynga.
LinkedIn Acquisition
When Microsoft bought LinkedIn for $29 billion in 2016, Reid owned 14.5 million shares of the company. The Microsoft deal bought LinkedIn out at $192 per share so Reid’s stake was worth $2.8 billion, pre-tax.
Early Life and Education
Reid Hoffman was born on August 5, 1967 in Palo Alto, California to William Jr. and Deanna, and was raised in Berkeley. Growing up, he was passionate about tabletop roleplaying games; at the age of 12, he had his first paid job as an editor at the Oakland-based game company Chaosium. As a teen, Hoffman went to the Putney School in Vermont, where he studied epistemology and farmed maple syrup. He went on to attend Stanford University, earning his BS in cognitive science and symbolic systems. Hoffman subsequently went to the University of Oxford’s Wolfson College, from which he graduated with a MSt in philosophy in 1993.
Career Beginnings
Deciding to pursue an entrepreneurial career after college, Hoffman landed an internship at the Napa Valley winery Inglenook. Following that, he joined Apple Computer, and then Fujitsu. In 1997, Hoffman co-founded his first company, SocialNet.com. He subsequently became a member of the board of directors of PayPal as the company was being founded. In 2000, Hoffman left SocialNet.com to become the COO of PayPal. He was made responsible for the company’s external relationships pertaining to business development, government, and payments infrastructure, among other areas. Hoffman was later promoted to executive vice president of PayPal.
In late 2002, Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn with a former college classmate, a former Fujitsu colleague, and two of his former SocialNet.com colleagues. The platform officially launched in May of 2003 as one of the first business-focused online social networks. LinkedIn grew substantially over the years; by late 2014, it had more than 332 million members from around the world, and eventually, it amassed 800 million members.
For the first four years of LinkedIn’s operation, Hoffman was the company’s founding CEO. He then became chairman and president of products, before becoming executive chairman in 2009. Two years after that, LinkedIn went public, with Hoffman owning a stake valued at $2.34 billion.
Investing
Beyond his entrepreneurship, Hoffman is known as one of the most prolific and successful angel investors in Silicon Valley. In 2010, he became a partner of the venture capital firm Greylock Partners, and made his first investment in the online lodging marketplace Airbnb. At Greylock, Hoffman invests in such areas as consumer services, social gaming, mobile, enterprise software, and social networks. He has invested in such companies as Digg; Tagged; Viki; TrialPay; Flickr; Kongregate; Edmodo; Swipely; SixApart; Coda; Blockstream; Neeva; and Entrepreneur First. Hoffman has also made numerous notable investments in transportation-oriented companies, including Nuro, Nauto, Convoy, Joby Aviation, and Aurora.
Publications
The Start-Up of You
Hoffman is co-author, with Ben Casnocha, of the career book The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform your Career
The book was released in the United States on February 14, 2012. It argues that individuals should think of themselves as businesses-of-one – the “CEO of their own career” – and draws many parallels between lessons learned from the stories of successful Silicon Valley technology companies and an individual’s career.
Publishers Weekly reviewed the book positively, saying, “with plenty of valuable guidance relevant to any career stage, this book will help readers not only survive professionally in times of uncertainty but stand out from the pack and flourish.” The Economist said that “Hoffman and Casnocha make a number of astute observations about shifts in the world of work.”
It became both a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller.
The Alliance
Hoffman is co-author, with Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh, of the management book The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age.
The book was released in the United States on July 8, 2014. It argues that previous career models of lifetime employment and free agency no longer work in a business world defined by continuous change. Instead, it proposes that employers and employees should think of each other as “allies” and move from a transactional approach to employment to a “relational” one.
The book became a New York Times bestseller. Arianna Huffington named The Alliance “the must-read book of the summer” in 2014. A Financial Times review was mixed, noting that those who aren’t well-versed on the changing nature of the workplace may find the book useful, but readers looking for more surprising or in-depth insights will be disappointed.
Blitzscaling
Hoffman is co-author, with Chris Yeh, of the book Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies. The book was released in the United States on October 9, 2018. It argues that the secret to starting and scaling massively valuable companies is “blitzscaling”, a set of techniques for “scaling up at a dizzying pace that blows competitors out of the water.”
Impromptu: Amplifying Our Humanity Through AI
On March 13, 2023, Hoffman released the book “Impromptu: Amplifying Our Humanity Through AI.” Hoffman claims to have written the book using the large language model GPT-4.
Podcasts
On April 25, 2017, Reid Hoffman announced the launch of a business and finance podcast called Masters of Scale, with the first episode of the podcast launching on May 3, 2017. The podcast is produced by WaitWhat, a media company led by former TED executives June Cohen and Deron Triff and hosted by Hoffman who interviews notable entrepreneurs and business and political leaders. The Masters of Scale podcast has featured interviews with well-known founders and leaders including Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Huffington Post & Thrive Global founder Arianna Huffington, Ariel Investments co-CEO Mellody Hobson, and President Barack Obama. Since its launch, Masters of Scale has won several Webby and Signal awards.
In March 2023, Hoffman and his Chief of Staff Aria Finger began hosting a podcast called “Possible”. According to its creators, the podcast “sketches out the brightest version of the future—and what it will take to get there”. The first episode featured an interview with Trevor Noah.
Honors and awards
- In September 2023, Reid received Sigillum Magnum from University of Bologna during the Bologna Business School‘s commencement.
- In 2022, Reid delivered the commencement address at Vanderbilt University and received Vanderbilt’s Nichols-Chancellor’s Medal.
- In 2017 he was appointed an Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), “For services to promoting UK business and social networking and the Marshall Scholarship scheme”.
- In September 2014, the American Academy of Achievement awarded Hoffman with the annual Golden Plate award, which honors accomplished individuals “for significant achievement in their fields.”
- In April 2014, President Barack Obama named Hoffman as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship “to help develop the next generation of entrepreneurs.”
- In April 2014, Hoffman received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Commonwealth Club of California.
- In May 2012, Hoffman was ranked third on the Forbes Midas List of the top tech investors.[74] Forbes described Hoffman as “Silicon Valley’s uber-investor” and said Hoffman “has had a hand in creating nearly every lucrative social media startup.”
- In 2012, The Martin Luther King Jr. Center honored Hoffman with their “Salute to Greatness” award which “recognizes individuals and corporations or organizations that exemplify excellence in leadership and a commitment to social responsibility in the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr.”
- In 2012, Hoffman, along with Salman Khan of Khan Academy, was honored by the World Affairs Council and Global Philanthropy Forum in 2012. The council recognizes and honors remarkable leaders who have effected and will continue to effect social change through their private enterprise and social action. The awards in 2012 were dedicated to celebrating Technology for Social Impact.
- Hoffman was awarded the 2012 David Packard Medal of Achievement Award by TechAmerica for his contributions and advances within the high-tech industry, his community, and humankind.
- Hoffman received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Babson College in 2012.
- In 2011, Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn shared the EY U.S. Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Personal life
In 2004, Hoffman married Michelle Yee. The couple resides in Seattle, Washington.
Hoffman helped fund E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit for defamation and battery against Donald Trump. On May 9, 2023 a jury found Trump liable and awarded Carroll $5 million in damages.
In September of 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported that Hoffman visited Jeffrey Epstein‘s private island for a weekend in 2014. Hoffman said that the purpose of the meeting was to raise funds for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and that he regretted interacting with Epstein. “It gnaws at me that, by lending my association, I helped his reputation, and thus delayed justice for his survivors.
Hoffman is an avid player of board games, including Settlers of Catan, and has said that such games are good training for business.
Philanthropy
Hoffman currently serves on the boards of Kiva.org (peer-to-peer microlending pioneer that allows people to lend money via the internet to low-income/underserved entrepreneurs and students), Endeavor Global (an organization that finds and supports high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging markets), and New America (a think tank that focuses on a range of public policy issues, including national security, technology, health, gender, education, and the economy). He’s also the founding donor and board member at Opportunity@Work, an organization that seeks to eliminate the opportunity gap and provide millions of highly skilled but under-credentialed Americans (often from marginalized, rural and racially diverse backgrounds) better pathways to higher-paying jobs and careers.
Hoffman also serves on the advisory council of the MIT Media Lab and is a supporter and chair of the advisory board for QuestBridge (a provider of talented low-income students to top colleges/universities). Hoffman was also the first major funder of Crisis Text Line, a free, 24/7 crisis service via SMS in the US.In 2013, Hoffman provided a $250,000 matching grant (equivalent to $290,800 in 2021) to Code for America.In July 2016, Hoffman funded the $250,000 cash-prize (equivalent to $279,900 in 2021) MIT Media Lab MIT Disobedience Award, an award created by Hoffman and Joi Ito to honor and recognize acts of disobedience resulting in positive social impact. In November 2016, Hoffman and his wife, Michelle Yee, donated $20 million (equivalent to $22,390,000 in 2021) to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a charity dedicated to eradicating disease by 2100. Hoffman and Yee’s donation was for the Biohub, the Initiative’s San Francisco laboratory. Hoffman also joined the board of the Biohub project. In May 2018, Hoffman and Yee joined the Giving Pledge, “a global effort to help address society’s most pressing problems by encouraging the wealthiest individuals and families to give the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.”
Hoffman is also a long-time supporter of Second Harvest of Silicon Valley. In 2021, in response to the massive increased need due to the pandemic, he offered to match any donations to the food bank, up to $2 million (equivalent to $2,000,000 in 2021).
Artificial Intelligence
Hoffman is one of the backers of the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund, a joint venture between the MIT Media Lab and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. He is on the board of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), whose mission is to “advance AI research, education, policy and practice to improve the human condition”, and launched the institute’s Hoffman-Yee Research Grants to “fund interdisciplinary teams with research spanning HAI’s key areas of focus: understanding the human and societal impact of AI, augmenting human capabilities, and developing AI technologies inspired by human intelligence”. In 2018, Hoffman made a gift to the University of Toronto‘s Faculty of Information, to endow a chair “to study how the new era of artificial intelligence (AI) will affect our lives.”
 is an American internet entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, and author. Hoffman was the co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn, a business-oriented social network used primarily for professional networking. He is currently a partner at the venture capital firm Greylock Partners and a co-founder of Inflection AI.){kind=link}