four years ago one of Vice President Kamala Harris’ biggest donors — billionaire LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman — celebrated the IPO of Airbnb, a company in which he was heavily invested, by creating Monopoly boards where the game’s “jail” space is replaced by “government regulation”. “
Since Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee, many billionaire tech investors have come out of the woodwork to support her campaign. While they often tout Harris as a business-friendly politician, they have been vocal about their distaste for FTC Chairwoman Lina Hahn’s antitrust agenda. Hoffman is one of the most influential donors in this group. He has donated tens of millions of dollars to the Biden and Harris campaigns and has arranged for other wealthy tech investors to do the same.
The box is labeled as a “Reid Hoffman and Greylock product” and contains all the parts that would normally be included in the classic board game, such as cards, dice and game pieces – all with a travel theme. Instead of a top hat or thimble, players can navigate the board with an airplane seat, golf club, flip-flops, etc. The board spaces are also customized to include airports instead of railroads and Airbnb locations instead of Atlantic City streets. In one telling modification, instead of a “Go to Jail” field, the board tells players to return to a “Government Regulations” corner space. If players avoid government regulation, they take the path titled “Progress.”
Some board locations require players to pay government-issued fines, taxes, or trust and safety fees. “Recent developments in American politics make you curious about living in Canada,” reads one of the game’s cards.
Still, it became public knowledge at a time when Hoffman and his Silicon Valley contemporaries called for Kahn to be fired under a possible Harris administration.
Since Khan was confirmed as chairman in 2021, the FTC has been going after tech giants like Amazon, Google and Meta for possible anti-competitive behavior. Many of these cases have failed, while others are ongoing. Khan’s biggest win came in August, when a judge found that Google maintained an illegal monopoly in the online search market.
In 2016 Hoffman sold LinkedIn to Microsoft, and he sits on the company’s board. Microsoft is reportedly currently under investigation by the FTC as part of an investigation into cooperation and investment in artificial intelligence. A spokesman for Hoffman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
