Early Life and Education
Reid Garrett Hoffman was born on August 5, 1967, in Palo Alto, California. He grew up in Berkeley, California, where he attended the Putney School in Vermont, a progressive high school where he engaged in farming. Hoffman graduated from Stanford University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in symbolic systems and cognitive science. He earned a Master of Studies in philosophy from Wolfson College, Oxford, in 1993, supported by a Marshall Scholarship.
Rise to Success
Hoffman's career began at Apple Computer in 1994, where he worked on eWorld, an early online service. He later joined Fujitsu before co-founding SocialNet.com in 1997. In January 2000, Hoffman joined PayPal full-time as COO and rose to Senior VP of Business Development. In December 2002, Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn, which launched in May 2003. The company went public in May 2011. Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in June 2016 for $26.2 billion. In 2016, Hoffman became a member of Microsoft's board.
Key Business Strategies
Hoffman is known for his understanding of network effects and for using "blitzscaling" strategies. He's focused on building businesses that become more valuable as they grow. His investment in LinkedIn was a masterclass in this approach. Hoffman's investment approach has led him to invest in AI companies as a way to create new network effects.
Philanthropy
Hoffman and his wife, Michelle Yee, are signatories of the Giving Pledge. Their philanthropic efforts include supporting entrepreneurship, new technologies that encourage philanthropic participation, and scientific research to address major diseases. The Aphorism Foundation, which Hoffman and Yee use for charitable giving, has made donations to the Obama Foundation and other left-leaning causes.
