The LinkedIn co-founder was a key bridge to Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI, but he also came with some baggage.
Reid Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, will not run for re-election to Microsoft’s board this year, the company said in a regulatory filing on Friday.
Mr. Hoffman has been a key figure in forging Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI, but he also brought challenges. They included financial conflicts with his start-up investments and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, which lasted until just months before the financier and sex offender was arrested a second time.
In a podcast interview with Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, that was released on Friday morning, Mr. Hoffman called serving on the board “a huge honor and pleasure.”
Mr. Hoffman, 58, said he would leave the board because a start-up he co-founded was seeing remarkable progress in its efforts to use artificial intelligence to improve cancer treatment. “I should really be transitioning right now to being founder mode,” he said.
“You will definitely be missed on the Microsoft board,” Mr. Nadella said on the podcast.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Hoffman said he was traveling and unable to comment further.
Microsoft’s filing thanked Mr. Hoffman for his service and said his decision “is not as a result of any disagreement with management on any matter relating to the company’s operations, policies or practices.” It said he would serve until the company’s annual meeting, which is typically in December, and declined to comment further.
