Why LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman Is Leaving Microsoft's Board After Nearly A Decade

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.

“We’re seeing such progress with Manus. I need to get back to founder mode,” he said.

Manus is an AI-native biopharmaceutical and cancer drug discovery company backed by Hoffman and General Catalyst, with Hoffman serving as co-founder and chairman. Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, a Pulitzer Prize-winning physician and author of The Emperor of All Maladies, serves as CEO.

Hoffman believes Manus is advancing what he calls “Move 37” AI, machine intelligence that supersedes human creativity in chemistry to combat cancer.

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