Reid Hoffman, who co-founded LinkedIn in 2002, is stepping down from Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) board of directors to refocus on Manus, his AI-powered drug discovery startup, the company announced Thursday.
LinkedIn Founder Returns to Startup Roots Hoffman joined the MSFT board in 2016 following the company's $26.2 billion LinkedIn acquisition.
During his tenure, he was present for Microsoft's landmark $1 billion OpenAI investment in 2019 and a $650 million acqui-hire of his AI venture Inflection AI, a deal that brought Inflection co-founder Mustafa Suleyman to Microsoft.
Later, Hoffman resigned from OpenAI's board in 2023, citing potential conflicts of interest between his role on the board and his investments through Greylock Partners, as well as his personal holdings in startups building on OpenAI's technology.
On a recent episode of his "Possible" podcast with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Hoffman cited rapid momentum at Manus as the catalyst.
