LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman could get a board seat at Microsoft as a result of the $26 billion acquisition announced earlier this week.
According to a report from Recode, no offer has been made to Hoffman, but he could be added to the board by the end of the year, when Microsoft’s annual meeting typically happens.
Sources told Recode that Hoffman was a key player in the Microsoft-LinkedIn deal, and he started talking to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates about it several years ago. The deal was completed Sunday at Hoffman’s Silicon Valley home.
Other Silicon Valley executives to hold a seat on Microsoft’s board include former Symantec CEO John Thompson, the current chairman; former Cisco executive Padmasree Warrior; and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings who served for five years until he stepped down in 2012.
One hold-up could be Hoffman’s status as a board member for Mozilla Corp., which makes Internet Explorer competitor Firefox.
