Reid Hoffman and founding team members launched LinkedIn in 2003 as a professional-networking company.
The service was designed around professional identities, connections, recommendations, and employment opportunities rather than personal-status updates. Its founding team included Allen Blue, Konstantin Guericke, Eric Ly, and Jean-Luc Vaillant alongside Hoffman. LinkedIn officially launched on May 5, 2003.
LinkedIn grew gradually before becoming a major business network. Microsoft announced its acquisition of LinkedIn in 2016, and the transaction closed that year. A common mix-up is naming Hoffman as the only founder: he was the central co-founder, but the early company was built by a broader founding team. LinkedIn's original purpose also differed from online job boards because networking was its core model.