Reid Hoffman
Co-founder of LinkedIn and Inflection AI; venture investor
A LinkedIn co-founder and venture investor who was among OpenAI's first donors and co-founded Inflection AI.
Biography
Reid Hoffman is an American internet entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster and author. He co-founded LinkedIn in December 2002 and is its former executive chairman, chairman of the venture capital firm Village Global, co-founder of Inflection AI and Manas AI, and a board member of the Arc Institute. He earned a master's in philosophy from Wolfson College, Oxford, in 1993 on a Marshall Scholarship, and was on PayPal's board when it was founded.
In 2016 he was among the first donors to OpenAI. After Elon Musk left OpenAI's board in 2018 and funding fell short, Hoffman helped OpenAI move to a capped-profit model by creating a for-profit subsidiary to attract investment, led the investment into that subsidiary through his family foundation, and joined OpenAI's board. In June 2024 Forbes featured him on its cover with Marc Andreessen and Vinod Khosla in its issue on the epic battle for AI's future.
Notable contributions
Early donor to OpenAI and led its first for-profit investment
Was among OpenAI's first donors in 2016 and, after the 2018 funding shortfall, helped create its capped-profit subsidiary and led the investment into it through his family foundation.
Co-founded Inflection AI
Co-founded the AI company Inflection AI, and later co-founded Manas AI.
Co-founded LinkedIn
Co-founded the professional network LinkedIn in December 2002.