Hoffman Says AI Alone Holds Off Recession
Reid Hoffman says AI spending is the only thing holding off a recession; the data backs part of that, but consumer spending also carries growth.
Read the storyReid Hoffman
LinkedIn co-founder; partner, Greylock
Reid Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn and is a partner at Greylock, where he focuses on businesses with network effects. His earlier experience includes SocialNet and PayPal, and his AI company-building work includes Inflection AI and Manas AI. He also writes and hosts conversations about entrepreneurship and AI. He remains a Microsoft director pending a previously announced departure at the company’s December 2026 annual meeting.
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At a glance
Reid Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn and is a partner at Greylock, where he focuses on businesses with network effects. His earlier experience includes SocialNet and PayPal, and his AI company-building work includes Inflection AI and Manas AI. He also writes and hosts conversations about entrepreneurship and AI. He remains a Microsoft director pending a previously announced departure at the company’s December 2026 annual meeting.
- Current role
- LinkedIn co-founder; Greylock partner; Manas AI co-founder
- Education
- Stanford University — symbolic systems; Oxford University — philosophy
- Known for
- LinkedIn; Greylock; Inflection AI; Manas AI
- Board status
- Microsoft director; not seeking re-election at the December 2026 annual meeting
- Previously
- SocialNet founder; PayPal executive vice president
- Coverage
- Networks; company building; venture capital; AI
Sources checked . Selected career background and milestones.
Career, in context.
Selected research, leadership and career milestones, newest first.
Plans departure from Microsoft’s board
Microsoft discloses Hoffman’s decision not to stand for re-election. Its filing says he will remain a director until the 2026 annual meeting, rather than leave immediately.
Source: Microsoft SEC filing ↗Co-founds Manas AI
Hoffman and Siddhartha Mukherjee launch an AI-driven drug-discovery company focused on developing medicines. The announcement describes computational chemistry, molecular docking and biology as parts of its platform.
Source: Manas AI ↗Co-founds Inflection AI
Mustafa Suleyman announces that he, Hoffman and Karén Simonyan are establishing Inflection AI, initially focused on consumer products built around natural-language interaction with computers.
Source: Mustafa Suleyman / Greylock ↗Joins Microsoft’s board
Microsoft appoints Hoffman as a director, effective immediately. The company identifies him as LinkedIn’s co-founder and a Greylock partner following its acquisition of LinkedIn.
Source: Microsoft ↗Joins Greylock
Hoffman becomes a partner at Greylock, extending his work from building internet companies to investing in early-stage businesses and advising founders on growth and networks.
Source: Greylock ↗LinkedIn opens to users
The professional network launches after development begins in Hoffman’s living room in 2002. LinkedIn’s own history distinguishes the company’s origins from its public launch date.
Source: LinkedIn ↗Starts SocialNet
Hoffman starts his first company after leaving Fujitsu. In an oral-history interview, he dates its initial financing to November 1997 and explains its relationship-matching concept.
Source: Reid Hoffman oral history ↗
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