Reid Garrett Hoffman – Founder: LinkedIn, a business-oriented social network 

OUNHoffman was born in Palo Alto, California, to Deanna Ruth (Rothman), a retired municipal judge, and William Parker Hoffman Jr., a culture journalist. He is of German, English, Irish, Scottish, and Jewish ancestry. Hoffman’s parents divorced when he was two and raised him with his father, who moved to Berkeley, California. As a child, Hoffman discovered the computer game Zork on an early IBM PC which sparked his interest in technology.

Hoffman attended Stanford University from 1983-1987 where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Symbolic Systems; his concentration was artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive science. In 1984 he co-founded SocialNet.com with Peter Thiel and Joe Lonsdale; it was the first company to offer online dating. In 1996 Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn, a social networking site for business professionals. He also founded PayPal in 1998 with Max Levchin and Elon Musk, as well as several other startups. From 2001-2003 Hoffman served as an executive vice president at PayPal and then became its CEO from March 2002 until its sale to eBay in October 2002 for $1.5 billion.

In 2006 Hoffman launched Greylock Partners, a venture capital firm, where he is currently a partner. Amongst other investments, Hoffman was an early investor in Facebook, Zynga, and Airbnb. As of December 2016, Forbes estimates his net worth to be $4.2 billion.

Hoffman is also a member of the board of directors for Amazon.com, and was one of the earliest investors in the company when he contributed $20 million to their 1997 initial public offering.

Hoffman has made several appearances on The Secret Policeman’s Ball, an annual benefit show for Amnesty International. In 2010, he appeared on the UK version, where he delivered a stand-up comedy routine.

In 2012 Hoffman appeared as himself in Aaron Sorkin’s HBO drama The Newsroom. He also guest-starred as a fictionalized version of himself in an episode of Louie.