Reid Hoffman

PayPal mafioso, LinkedIn cofounder, Microsoft board member, Greylock investor: Reid Hoffman isn't short on roles that have made him one of the most influential voices in Silicon Valley. But a funny thing happened on the way to the executive forum. First: The weekly podcast sharing advice from tech leaders that Hoffman started in 2017, called Masters of Scale, took on a growth trajectory of its own, turning him into every aspiring entrepreneur's favorite listen. Second: Hoffman, who has long been engaged and vocal on political matters, became the liberal foil to the conservative wing of the PayPal Mafia (Elon Musk, David Sacks, and Peter Thiel among them) in the run-up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as he forcefully rejected the notion that capitalism is more important than competence.