Microsoft announced today that LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has joined the company’s board of directors.
Hoffman, who helped start LinkedIn in 2003, joins Microsoft’s board three months after the company completed its $26 billion acquisition of the professional social network site.
In a blog post that Hoffman published on LinkedIn and wrote using a Surface Studio, the 49-year-old said he’s joining Microsoft’s board for the same reasons the two companies merged together.
“From this position, I will continue to focus on helping LinkedIn fulfill its mission of increasing the economic productivity of individual professionals and the companies they work for,” he wrote. “I’ll also contribute more broadly as Microsoft deepens its presence in Silicon Valley and continues to weave social, AI, and other technologies into it products.”
Recode reported about Hoffman potentially joining the board when the acquisition was originally announced back in June, noting that it would be a “coup” for Microsoft given Hoffman’s network in Silicon Valley.
Hoffman is currently a partner at Greylock Partners, the well-known Bay Area venture capital firm. He also sits on the boards of Edmodo, Blockstream, and Seattle-based Convoy.
“I’ve long admired Reid’s ability to identify disruptive technologies and the passion we share for how digital platforms can create new opportunity for people around the world,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement. “As a board member, Reid’s leadership and strategic perspective will help chart the future of our company as we aim to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.”
Microsoft’s board, which now includes 12 members, also today declared a quarterly dividend of $0.39 per share. Here’s the full list of board members:
- John W. Thompson, Microsoft independent chairman
- William H. Gates, Microsoft founder and technology advisor
- G. Mason Morfit, president, ValueAct Capital
- Satya Nadella, chief executive officer, Microsoft
- Charles H. Noski, former vice chairman of Bank of America Corp.
- Sandra E. Peterson, executive vice president, Group Worldwide Chairman for Johnson & Johnson
- Dr. Helmut Panke, former chairman of the board of management at BMW AG
- Charles W. Scharf, former chief executive officer of Visa Inc.
- John W. Stanton, chairman, Trilogy Equity Partners and Trilogy International Partners
- Teri List-Stoll, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Gap Inc.
- Padmasree Warrior, chief development officer of NextEV, and chief executive officer of U.S. for NextEV
