Co-founder of LinkedIn and Greylock Partners venture capitalist. His connection to Epstein originated through Joi Ito, director of the MIT Media Lab, who asked Hoffman to help solicit donations from Epstein for MIT. Hoffman hosted an August 2, 2015 dinner at Baume restaurant in Palo Alto where Epstein dined alongside Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Peter Thiel; Epstein described the dinner as ‘wild’ in a subsequently unsealed email.
Hoffman visited Epstein's Little St. James island once in 2014. He initially told Axios in 2019 that his last meeting with Epstein was in 2015, but later admitted he was ‘mistaken,’ as calendar entries showed additional meetings in 2016 and March 2018 coordinated by Ito for MIT fundraising.
In 2019, he apologized for his role in Epstein-linked donations to MIT after the Media Lab accepted gifts from Epstein while Epstein was listed as ‘disqualified’ in MIT's donor database. The January 2026 DOJ file release references Hoffman in 2,658 separate documents. Claims emerged that Hoffman set up an encrypted Signal chat with Epstein and that communications involved a discussion of a $40 million financial arrangement; Hoffman disputes the characterization.
President Trump ordered a targeted investigation into Democrats named in the Epstein files, naming Hoffman specifically. The FBI reviewed Hoffman and found no criminal hits. Hoffman responded publicly: ‘Interacting with Epstein post-conviction is something I deeply regret,’ and called for full disclosure of the Epstein files.
No criminal charges have been filed against Hoffman.