Reid Hoffman exits Microsoft board to focus on AI drug discovery startup Manus

Reid Hoffman is leaving Microsoft’s board of directors after nearly a decade, the company confirmed Thursday. The move comes as the LinkedIn co-founder and longtime tech investor shifts his attention to a new venture: Manus, an AI-powered drug discovery startup targeting cancer.

Hoffman joined Microsoft’s board in 2016 after the tech giant acquired LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. During his tenure, he was a key figure in Microsoft’s early bet on OpenAI, sitting on the AI lab’s board until 2023 and supporting Microsoft’s initial $1 billion investment in 2019. He was also on the board when Microsoft paid $650 million to effectively acquire Inflection AI’s talent, including co-founder Mustafa Suleyman.

Now Hoffman is going “founder mode,” as he put it on his podcast with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Manus, where Hoffman serves as co-founder and chairman, raised more than $50 million in seed rounds last year from investors including General Catalyst. The CEO is Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, the oncologist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Emperor of All Maladies.”

Hoffman says Manus is making headway on what he calls “Move 37” AI—systems that can outperform humans in creative chemistry, particularly for designing new cancer treatments. “I need to get back to founder mode,” he said. “We’re seeing such progress.”