Owen Thomas, Business Insider
LinkedIn chairman Reid Hoffman is confronting his newfound wealth.
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“What’s it like to be ridiculously wealthy?”
Venture capitalist Michael Arrington posed that question to LinkedIn chairman Reid Hoffman at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco today.
It’s the obvious question to ask Hoffman, whose net worth has been enormously boosted by his company’s IPO last year—as well as Facebook’s more recent stock offering.
His stakes in the two companies are worth about $2.8 billion.
The biggest change has come in his dealings with nonprofits and educational institutions, Hoffman said.
He’d been talking to some schools about joining them in a part-time academic capacity, teaching some classes.
“All of those conversations suddenly changed into donor relationships,” said Hoffman. “And they’re bringing along the chancellor of the school. You’re approached as a quasi cash register.”
Aside from that, the main change was flying private.
“It’s so weird as something to whine about on stage,” Hoffman said. “But it’s far more convenient.”
Sometimes, Hoffman said, he’s the only one on the plane besides the pilot, which he seemed to find disconcerting.
What hasn’t changed: Hoffman’s Silicon Valley uniform. He wore a black T-shirt, black jeans, and sneakers on stage.