Reid Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn in 2003 as a professional networking service.
LinkedIn was created by Hoffman, Allen Blue, Konstantin Guericke, Eric Ly, and Jean-Luc Vaillant. The site launched publicly in May 2003 and focused on professional identities, contacts, recruitment, and business communication rather than general social posting.
The company grew through premium subscriptions, recruitment tools, advertising, and learning products. Microsoft agreed to acquire LinkedIn in 2016 for about $26.2 billion, and the acquisition was completed later that year.
A common mix-up is identifying Hoffman as LinkedIn's sole founder. He was the leading co-founder and later served as executive chairman, but the service was built by a founding team. Hoffman had previously helped found the online payment company PayPal.