Four years ago, Reid Hoffman, the billionaire cofounder of LinkedIn and a prominent donor for Vice President Kamala Harris, celebrated the IPO of Airbnb—a company he significantly invested in—by creating custom Monopoly boards. These boards replaced the traditional “jail” space with “government regulation.”
Since Kamala Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee, several billionaire tech investors have expressed support for her campaign, highlighting her perceived business-friendly stance. However, they have also criticized the antitrust approach of Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chair. Hoffman, a key figure among these donors, has contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Biden and Harris campaigns and has encouraged other affluent tech investors to do the same.
When Airbnb went public in December 2020 with a valuation exceeding $47 billion, Hoffman distributed a board game styled after Monopoly, called “Airbnopoly,” to several investors. Images obtained by WIRED reveal this game’s resemblance to the classic Monopoly game, but with a travel theme, featuring customized elements such as airports instead of railroads and Airbnb locations in place of Atlantic City streets. Significantly, the usual “Go to Jail” space was altered to read “Government Regulation,” and avoiding this corner indicated progress on a path referred to as “Progress.”
The game included spaces that imposed government fines, taxes, or trust and safety fees, and one card referenced a curiosity about relocating to Canada due to recent developments in American politics. While Airbnopoly appeared to serve as a novelty gift rather than a political message, Aria Finger, Hoffman’s podcast cohost and chief of staff, indicated that Hoffman is an avid board game enthusiast. This resulted in creations like Settlers of Silicon Valley, a custom board game previously gifted to friends, and the Airbnb-themed Monopoly board, which he considered a fitting, unique gift.
Despite this lighthearted creation, Hoffman and other Silicon Valley associates made public calls for Khan’s dismissal if Harris were to take further leadership. Since Khan’s appointment in 2021, the FTC has targeted major tech firms such as Amazon, Google, and Meta over allegations of anticompetitive practices. Many of these legal battles are ongoing, with some unsuccessful, although Khan achieved a notable victory in August when a judge ruled that Google had unlawfully maintained a monopoly in the online search market.
Hoffman, who sold LinkedIn to Microsoft in 2016 and currently sits on its board, is connected to a company reportedly under FTC investigation over partnerships and investments in artificial intelligence. A spokesperson for Hoffman did not provide immediate comments regarding these investigations.
