Reid Garrett Hoffman is an American Internet entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, author, and billionaire, best known as the co-founder and former executive chairman of LinkedIn, the leading business-oriented social networking platform. Born on August 5, 1967, in Stanford, California, Hoffman grew up in Berkeley and developed an early interest in technology and philosophy. He attended Stanford University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in symbolic systems in 1990, and briefly studied philosophy, politics, and economics at Oxford University. After early roles at Apple and Fujitsu, Hoffman co-founded SocialNet in 1997, an online dating and social networking site, before launching LinkedIn in 2002, which he sold to Microsoft for $26.2 billion in 2016. As a partner at Greylock Partners since 2009, he has invested in numerous successful startups including Airbnb, Facebook, and Aurora, amassing a net worth estimated in the billions.

Hoffman is a prominent figure in Silicon Valley's venture capital scene, serving as chairman of Village Global, a co-founder of Inflection AI and Manas AI, and a board member at Arc Institute. He hosts the podcast 'Masters of Scale' and has authored books like 'The Start-Up of You' and 'Blitzscaling.' Politically, Hoffman is a major Democratic donor, contributing significantly to progressive causes and candidates, which has created a notable contrast with his Stanford classmate and sometimes adversarial relationship with conservative venture capitalist Peter Thiel, whom he has publicly criticized. Despite their personal history as classmates, their ideological differences have led to public clashes, including Hoffman's attacks on Thiel's political stances.

Hoffman's influence extends to philanthropy and public policy, where he advocates for entrepreneurship, AI ethics, and democratic institutions through organizations like the MacArthur Foundation's 100&Change initiative and his role in the Bilderberg Group. He remains active in fostering innovation networks, emphasizing scalable business models and global connectivity.