Incorporating some of what NLPC has already reported related to Reid Hoffman‘s friendship and correspondence with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Bloomberg has pieced together a more extensive timeline of the relationship from the Justice Department‘s recent release of documents. The report contains further details, context and connectivity that only serve to reinforce NLPC’s repeated call for Microsoft to boot Hoffman from its board of directors.
After Hoffman was found to be lying when he told Axios he had no contact with Epstein after 2015 and the nature of his communication was only “fundraising,” he consulted his calendar, and sheepishly disclosed other meetings he had with the pedophilic islander going up to 2018. We pointed out there was much more to it than that, including emails about “ice cream for the girls” and cryptic “beef jerky” references, and his interaction with fellow Epstein associate Bill Gates as Hoffman planned the sale of LinkedIn to Microsoft.
To this point the nature of Hoffman’s “fundraising” was for MIT’s Media Lab, but those efforts extended beyond the university, as Bloomberg notes in its investigative report:
The LinkedIn Corp. co-founder and venture capitalist first met Epstein through fundraising work with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, five years after Epstein pled guilty to procuring a minor for prostitution and served time in jail. Over the years they exchanged gifts — dumbbells for Hoffman, a metal surfer statue for Epstein — with Hoffman staying at both Epstein’s Caribbean island and his townhouse on New York’s Upper East Side.
And in May 2018, emails show Hoffman reaching out to Epstein about investing in a new fund being raised by entrepreneur Joi Ito, then the director of the MIT Media Lab. Billionaire Hoffman was putting his own money into the fund, which was unrelated to the university.
“Joi says that you’re on the fence around investing in the fund — worth scheduling a skype call for that? OK if no,” Hoffman wrote.
“Always can make time for a Reid skype :)” Epstein replied.
Again, this was 2018, one year before Epstein would be arrested and suicided in a New York jail cell.
Hoffman has said that even though he worked with Epstein to fundraise for MIT, he was not aware of the extent of his proclivities and sex abuse activities. An internal investigation commissioned by MIT to look into the extent and nature of the Media Lab’s actions tied to Epstein revealed that Hoffman almost certainly knew more than he let on, with Ito consulting with him about the degree to which Epstein should be shown publicly in his fundraising ties to MIT. Bloomberg added:
Although Ito said he discussed Epstein’s jail time with Hoffman soon after the two men met, there’s no indication in the Justice Department documents that Hoffman knew of Epstein’s alleged, ongoing crimes during the years of their acquaintance. No women have come forward to accuse Hoffman of inappropriate treatment. He says he’s been cleared of any wrongdoing by the FBI.
As anyone who has ever reported on the FBI or federal law enforcement knows, clearing people is “not what the Justice Department does.” Hoffman has said in the past and reiterated in a statement to Bloomberg, “The victims deserve justice, not delays or distractions. I welcome all the work that is being done by the press and those online to look into any and all Epstein connections to expose those who committed crimes. The Trump Administration must release all of the files and prosecute all of those responsible. No exceptions. No excuses.”
Below are a few more of Bloomberg’s revelations from the Epstein files related to Hoffman that should be of concern, that NLPC has not already reported:
Judge lest ye be not judged
Hoffman first met Epstein at MIT during a visit that included Ito. After the meeting, Epstein emailed Ito to ask if Hoffman had followed up “on the jail.”
“About your jail thing?” Ito replied. “I talked to him about it and he got it. He doesn’t judge people.”
Jeffrey’s ‘exquisite taste in people’
Early in 2014, Hoffman, Ito and Epstein floated ideas for a trip to Epstein’s island — in the US Virgin Islands — or his New Mexico ranch, discussing which location would better fit Hoffman’s schedule. Their networks were becoming further entwined. Hoffman in March invited Epstein to meet with him at the billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel’s house. Epstein, in turn, connected Hoffman with Hardeep Singh Puri, who had previously served as India’s ambassador to the United Nations.
“Jeffrey has exquisite taste in people (myself excepted),” Hoffman wrote in a September 2014 email to Puri…
Off to the island (and the townhouse)!
Two months later, on November 28, Hoffman and Ito boarded a private flight to Epstein’s island. Several days after they returned to Boston, Epstein paid for Hoffman to fly to New York, where he spent the night at Epstein’s townhouse. The next morning, Hoffman joined a breakfast Epstein organized with Gates and other high-profile guests.
Reid’s emanations for Epstein and ice cream for the girls
After the island and New York visits, Hoffman appeared to be grateful. On Christmas Eve, he told Epstein he’d sent him two gifts: a surfer statue for the island, and ice cream, either for himself or for “the girls.” A Hoffman spokesperson said the “girls” in question were adult members of Epstein’s team who used that term for themselves.
Epstein responded that although Hoffman hadn’t included a note with the sculpture, he instantly knew Hoffman had sent it because it “emanated” Reid.
Questions: In a professional “fundraising” setting and relationship that is only arms-length, when is it ever appropriate to refer to your counterpart’s adult female associates as “girls?” And if your professional, fundraising-only relationship that isn’t a friendship is so arms-length, how does one know his counterpart so well that without a word, he knows what he “emanates”?
Hoffman’s here to help
On December 30, 2014, a Florida court filing accused Epstein of trafficking an underage girl to [the disgraced former Prince Andrew], with whom she was forced to engage in sexual acts. Virginia Giuffre later identified herself as the girl. [Andrew] has repeatedly denied the accusations, calling them “false.”
As the press attention snowballed, Hoffman offered to help Epstein with damage control. “Been giving a bit of thought to how I can help with recent press,” he wrote in January 2015, “mostly looking for help on the on-line front.” Epstein responded: “nothing to do during a storm, but hunker down, and wait until it blows over.”
Meeting w/ Epstein and Prince Andrew after Virginia Giuffre allegations
Epstein continued to offer Hoffman his own introductions. He offered to set up a meeting with [Andrew] in November 2015 when Hoffman and the prince were both scheduled to be in China — less than a year after the allegations concerning Giuffre were made public.
There’s no indication the meeting took place. But the following June, Hoffman joined [Andrew] for lunch in London. Working both sides of the meal, Epstein advised Hoffman and one of the prince’s associates on what to discuss.
So a double-whammy: Hoffman was already aware of why Epstein served his jail term (“He doesn’t judge people”), and he dined overseas in London with both Epstein and the tainted Prince. And what about that bizarre “child sex robots” session at the Media Lab’s 2016 summer conference?
Hoffman sticks to his ‘fundraising’ story
Epstein and Hoffman had two confirmed phone calls that June. In a public statement, Hoffman said they were “fundraising meetings.” But Hoffman had just announced the planned sale of LinkedIn to Microsoft, and Epstein sent him a list of questions to discuss what Hoffman would do with his share of the proceeds.
Click on the “list of questions” to see the level of detail Epstein offered to help Hoffman with, include estate planning, taxes, proceeds for future kids, pre-nuptial agreements, and much more. This was the transaction that shifted Hoffman further into tech venture capitalism, and led to his board seat with Microsoft. Bill Gates had steered Hoffman away from selling LinkedIn to Salesforce, as NLPC recounted recently.
Hoffman’s hypocrisy and lies
By 2017, Silicon Valley was reckoning with #MeToo. Hoffman was among the tech industry leaders publicly decrying reports of pervasive sexual harassment in venture capital.
In a LinkedIn post, Hoffman expressed outrage and urged peers to take a “Decency Pledge” against harassment. A week later, Epstein emailed Hoffman his own suggestion (with several typos, per usual): “i liked you pledge idea , but why not take it a step furtther and form a silicon valley grievance panel modeled after some university offices. so these women actually have someplace to go and complain. and the alleged perpertrator can offer up a defense. a self regulator . nice.”
They stayed in touch throughout the year. In early 2018, Hoffman shared information with Epstein about Greylock’s investment in Coinbase – emails show Epstein, a long-time crypto investor, had considered investing in Coinbase as early as 2014. The two also spoke by phone in March 2018, which Hoffman has described as their last conversation.
But months later (in May), Hoffman reached out to see if Epstein wanted to invest in the fund Ito was raising.
Besides the investment overture, Hoffman also wrote in the email that he “look[ed] forward to being in the same area of the world at some point. (smiley face emoji)”
Ito appears
In an attempt to explain again what happened with Epstein when he was director of the MIT Media Lab, Ito wrote earlier this week that “Epstein had finished serving his sentence in 2009,” and “at the time, I consulted with knowledgeable individuals both inside and outside MIT about whether to accept donations from him, and was advised that doing so for MIT’s fundraising purposes was appropriate.”
Thus Ito, and his close friend and associate Hoffman, knew whether accepting donations from Epstein was problematic: “…donations were to be recorded anonymously so they could not be used to elevate Epstein’s reputation, donation amounts were to remain relatively small, and the funds were to be unrestricted in their use.”
This also shows widespread knowledge of donations from Epstein would likely create issues for MIT. And depending how the “anonymously” recorded donations were handled, it could be illegal. MIT’s third-party report confirmed that roughly $800,000 came in from Epstein — not close to “relatively small.”
Finally, after the Epstein fallout in 2019, Ito wrote, despite maintaining his ignorance about his crimes and activities, that he “concluded that voluntarily stepping down would be in the best interests of MIT and its students.”
Ito’s action stands in stark contrast to how Hoffman has responded, by admitting only to meetings with Epstein after public revelations and pressure; by disingenuously excusing his travel to Epstein’s island by saying he should have “Googled before going;” that his failures to explain his friendship and communications with Epstein extended to gift-giving and personal advice; and his hypocrisy in expressing #MeToo outrage while meeting a sex offender with other elites all over the world to talk about accessing money and God-knows what else.
Hoffman is utterly useless on Microsoft’s board. He doesn’t serve any meaningful governance purpose, being left off its Audit, Compensation, and Governance and Nominating committees. He’s only listed on the woke Environmental, Social and Public Policy Committee. He could recognize, as Ito did, that stepping down from Microsoft would be for the best interests of the company and its shareholders, but his ego obviously prevents him from doing so.
And somebody other than NLPC finally inquired about Hoffman’s presence on the company’s board — this is what Bloomberg got in response:
Microsoft confirmed that Hoffman remains on the company’s board but otherwise declined to comment for this story.
It’s getting increasingly more difficult to ignore. As we told Microsoft investors almost 2 1/2 years ago:
…investigative reports continue to implicate Mr. Hoffman in the furtherance of Mr. Epstein’s social capital. What’s next to be revealed? Is the Company willing to wait and find out the next shoe that drops to see how embarrassing it is?
The shoes keep dropping, and Microsoft’s board is deaf to each thud.
