Reid Hoffman leaving Microsoft’s board marks the end of a relationship built on one of tech’s biggest acquisitions, with the LinkedIn co-founder stepping away to run an AI-driven drug discovery company he co-founded with a prominent oncologist.
| Key Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Board tenure | Joined early 2017, departs at 2025 annual meeting |
| LinkedIn acquisition | Microsoft bought LinkedIn for $27 billion in 2016 |
| New venture | Manas AI, AI-native biopharma co-founded with Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee |
| Manas funding | $24.6M seed + $26M seed extension raised |
| Microsoft annual meeting | December 5, 2025 (virtual) |
Reid Hoffman Leaving Microsoft After Nearly a Decade
Hoffman, 58, told the board Tuesday he would not seek reelection. He stays on as director until Microsoft’s annual shareholders meeting, held December 5 as a virtual event. His seat on the board traces directly to the 2016 deal: Microsoft paid $27 billion for LinkedIn, the professional network Hoffman launched in 2002, and Hoffman joined the board in early 2017.
The departure is mutual and amicable. On a podcast released Friday alongside Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Hoffman put it plainly: “At the end of the year, I should really be transitioning right now to being in founder mode.”
Manas AI: The Startup Pulling Hoffman Away
The new venture is Manas AI, an “AI-native biopharmaceutical company” that Hoffman co-founded with oncologist Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee. Mukherjee, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Columbia University physician, brings scientific credibility to what is essentially a bet that large language models and AI reasoning can compress the timeline for drug discovery.
The company has moved fast on funding. It raised $24.6 million in seed capital at launch, then followed with a $26 million seed extension. That second round came alongside the appointment of Ujjwal Singh as co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, per Manas AI’s website. The company has also secured a strategic integration with Schrödinger’s Physics and AI Discovery Platform, adding computational chemistry tools to its stack.
Together those raises total roughly $50 million before a Series A, which positions Manas as a well-capitalized early-stage bet in a sector where AI-drug discovery startups have attracted serious institutional money over the past two years.
Board Controversy and the Shareholder Vote
Hoffman’s exit lands against a backdrop of outside pressure on his board seat. The National Legal and Policy Center filed an exempt solicitation with the SEC urging Microsoft shareholders to vote against Hoffman’s reelection, citing what it called “a pattern of poor judgment, intemperate rhetoric, and ethically questionable political activities.” The filing referenced prior notices from 2023 and 2024 and pointed to Hoffman’s documented communications with financier Jeffrey Epstein and his involvement in funding related to E. Jean Carroll’s legal battles against President Donald Trump.
Hoffman has apologized for his association with Epstein. On the Carroll matter, he wrote on X that the Justice Department investigation targeted him because he backed Carroll’s lawsuit, in which a jury found Trump liable for sexual assault.
His political history is long. He has been a major donor to Democratic campaigns for years and became a general partner at venture firm Greylock in 2009.
What Changes on the Microsoft Board
Hoffman’s exit is one of two board changes this cycle. According to Microsoft’s 2025 proxy statement, Carlos Rodriguez also did not seek reelection, while John David Rainey, Walmart’s executive vice president and CFO, was named as a new director nominee. The updated slate lists 12 nominees, with 11 of 12 deemed independent.
Reid Hoffman leaving Microsoft clears one more potential conflict from the company’s increasingly crowded AI entanglement map. Hoffman stepped off the OpenAI board in 2023 after Microsoft deepened its investment there, writing at the time that the move would “proactively put to rest any downstream potential issues” for OpenAI and his Greylock portfolio companies. His Inflection co-founder, Mustafa Suleyman, now runs Microsoft AI after Microsoft absorbed much of Inflection’s team in 2024.
The clean break from Microsoft sets up a clearer read on whether Manas can attract a major pharma partner or Series A lead. Hoffman in full founder mode, unburdened by board obligations, is the version of the pitch that institutional biotech investors will now be evaluating.
