Microsoft Just Got A Really Big New Board Member

Microsoft made a big announcement on Tuesday announcing that it has added Reid Hoffman to it’s board of directors with immediate effect.

Hoffman is the co-founder of professional networking company LinkedIn which Microsoft announced last June that it agreed to buy for $26.2 billion. The deal had closed at the end of 2016.

Hoffman currently serves on the boards of Edmodo, Convoy and Blockstream as well as on several not-for-profit boards like Wrapp and Kiva.org. He is also the chair of the West Coast advisory board for QuestBridge.

He will be appointed to Microsoft’s Regulatory and Public Policy Committee.

This isn’t the first LinkedIn member that Microsoft is adding to its team. The company also appointed Kevin Scott, LinkedIn’s head of engineering as the company’s new chief technology officer.

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft commented, “I’ve long admired Reid’s ability to identify disruptive technologies and the passion we share for how digital platforms can create new opportunity for people around the world. As a board member, Reid’s leadership and strategic perspective will help chart the future of our company as we aim to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.”

Hoffman wrote in a blog post, “After the acquisition was finalized in December, I began having more detailed conversations with Satya Nadella, Bill Gates, Microsoft Chairman John W Thompson, Jeff Weiner and others on the role I could play. Ultimately, we concluded that a position on Microsoft’s Board would be the best way to leverage my contributions.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) nor LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) and have not been compensated for this article.