Reid Hoffman
| Reid Hoffman | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Organization: | |
| Role: | Executive Chairman and Co-Founder |
| Location: | San Francisco, California |
| Expertise: | Entrepreneur |
| Education: | •Stanford University (B.S. symbolic systems, 1990) •Oxford University (M.St. philosophy, 1993) |
| Website: | Official website |
Reid Hoffman is the co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn, the online resume and networking website. Previously, Hoffman has worked as the executive vice president of PayPal. Hoffman is also a partner at Greylock Partners, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm.[1]
Biography
Reif Hoffman began his career at Apple as a senior user experience architect. He remained with Apple until 1996, when took the position of director of product management and development at Fujitsu Software Corp.[1] In 1997, Hoffman founded SocialNet, a dating and networking website, where he remained until 2000.[2]
In 1998, Hoffman joined the board of PayPal and, by 2000, had become the company's executive vice president.[1] In 2003 Hoffman founded LinkedIn and became the CEO and chairman of the online resume and networking website.[1][2]
Throughout the 2000s, Hoffman began serving on a number of boards for various companies. The following is a list as of August 2025:[1]
- Manas AI, an artificial intelligence company
- Inflection AI, an artificial intelligence company
- Microsoft
- Aurura, an autonomous vehicle company
- NAUTO, a company developing "AI-powered driver and fleet safety systems"
- Entrepreneur First, an organization supporting aspiring entrepreneurs
In 2009, Hoffman became a partner at Greylock Partners, a firm that invest in startup tech companies in Silicon Valley. The firm's startups include, airbnb, Arista, Cloudera, Constant Contact, Dropbox, Facebook, gofundme, Instagram, LinkedIn, Nextdoor, OpenDNS, Pandora, tumblr and Wrapp.[1]
Work and activities
Political Contributions
2012-2016
In 2012, Hoffman gave $1 million to the Priorities USA Action Super PAC. In 2014, he gave $1 million to the Mayday PAC and over $50,000 to Barack Obama's re-election campaign.[3] In 2013, Hoffman co-founded FWD.US, which described itself as "a bipartisan team of political campaigners spanning the fields of policy, advocacy, and technology working to create a stronger America."[4][5] Hoffman donated over $1 million to candidates and groups during the 2014 election cycle,according to Federal Elections Commission records.[6]
2016-2020
Hoffman donated over $1 million to candidates and organizations during the 2016 election cycle, according to Federal Elections Commission records.[7]
After the 2016 election, the Washington Post reported Hoffman had made a series of "multi-million dollar expenditures" to oppose President Donald Trump (R).[8] Hoffman told the Washington Post that he was encouraging other technology executives to become engaged in politics as well.[9] In 2018, Hoffman apologized for donations he made to American Engagement Technologies, which supported a separate firm that Facebook said "coordinated inauthentic" behavior during the United States Senate special election in Alabama, 2017.[8] Hoffman said he was unaware of the group's activities.[8]
Hoffman made over $9.9 million in contributions to candidates and organizations during the 2018 election cycle, according to Federal Elections Commission records.[10]
2020-2024
Hoffman made over $8 million in donations during the 2020 election cycle, according to Federal Elections Commission records.[11]
In 2022, Hoffman donated over $600,000 to support Mainstream Democrats PAC, which supported Kurt Schrader and Henry Cuellar in primary elections.[12][13]
Hoffman initially endorsed President Joe Biden (D) in the 2024 election.[14] After Biden withdrew from the race, Hoffman endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris (D).[15] Hoffman donated over $7 million to the primary PAC supporting Biden and Harris.[15]
Notable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this organization made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope. Know of one we missed? Click here to let us know.
Top influencers by state
Influencers in American politics are power players who help get candidates elected, put through policy proposals, cause ideological changes, and affect popular perceptions. They can take on many forms: politicians, lobbyists, advisors, donors, corporations, industry groups, labor unions, single-issue organizations, nonprofits, to name a few.
In 2015, Ballotpedia identified Reid Hoffman as a top influencer by state. We identified top influencers across the country through several means, including the following:
- Local knowledge of our professional staff
- Surveys of activists, thought leaders and journalists from across the country and political spectrum
- Outreach to political journalists in each state who helped refine our lists
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Reid Hoffman. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 LinkedIn, "Reid Hoffman," accessed August 11, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Business Insider, "Before LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman Founded An Overeager Dating Site," May 9, 2013
- ↑ FEC, "Reid Hoffman," accessed December 28, 2015
- ↑ Washington Post , "Immigration promotes entrepreneurship and prosperity," June 28, 2013
- ↑ FWD.US , "About," accessed August 11, 2025
- ↑ FEC , "Reid Hoffman," accessed August 11, 2025
- ↑ FEC , "Reid Hoffman," accessed August 11, 2025
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Washington Post , "Internet billionaire Reid Hoffman apologizes for funding a group tied to disinformation in Alabama race," December 26, 2018
- ↑ Washington Post , "‘Staying on the sidelines is no longer an option’: How Silicon Valley is trying to help Democrats capture Congress in 2018," October 27, 2018
- ↑ FEC , "Reid Hoffman," accessed August 11, 2025
- ↑ FEC , "Reid Hoffman," accessed August 11, 2025
- ↑ Open Secrets, "Mainstream Democrats PAC," accessed August 11, 2025
- ↑ Politico , "Where megadonors are spending big money to shape the Democratic Party’s future," May 16, 2022
- ↑ Wired , "Reid Hoffman Hasn't Given Up on Biden Just Yet," July 11, 2024
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 CNN , "LinkedIn billionaire is going all-in on Kamala Harris. But he wants her to make a big change," July 26, 2024
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