LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman could join Microsoft's board of directors

A new report says that LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman could become the newest member of the board of directors at Microsoft. He could join sometime after Microsoft's previous announced $26.2 billion deal to acquire LinkedIn is completed.

Recode reports:

No official offer has been made to Hoffman as yet, due to fiduciary issues, and the many-step process has not been set in motion either. But, if it moves forward as many expect, Hoffman would be voted on as a director at the end of the year, which is when the annual meeting of the Redmond, Wash., tech giant typically takes place.

The story adds that if Hoffman is elected to Microsoft's board, it could serve as a way to help improve the company's dealings with Silicon Valley-based tech businesses. Besides his involvement in the funding and founding of LinkedIn, Hoffman was also among the board of directors at PayPal when it first started, He was also one of the first investors in Facebook and has put money in many other businesses, including Airbnb. Hoffman is also on the board of Mozilla Corporation, which makes the Firefox web browser that competes with Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Edge.

John Callaham