Four years ago, Reid Hoffman, a billionaire and cofounder of LinkedIn, marked the initial public offering (IPO) of Airbnb, a company in which he had substantial investment, by creating and distributing custom Monopoly boards. These boards replaced the traditional “jail” space with “government regulation.”
Since Kamala Harris secured the Democratic presidential nomination, numerous billionaire tech investors have expressed their support for her campaign. Despite portraying Harris as a business-friendly candidate, these investors have been openly critical of Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan’s antitrust initiatives. Hoffman is among the leading donors in this group, having contributed tens of millions of dollars to support the campaigns of Biden and Harris and rallied other affluent tech investors to do likewise.
When Airbnb went public in December 2020, it reached a valuation of over $47 billion. Hoffman distributed a unique board game modeled after Monopoly, named “Airbnopoly,” to several investors, as revealed by images acquired by WIRED. A major Airbnb investor confirmed receipt of this game, which was co-produced by Hoffman and his venture firm, Greylock Partners.
The packaging of this game is marked as “a Reid Hoffman and Greylock production,” and it includes standard board game components like cards, dice, and tokens, all with a travel-related theme. Instead of the classic tokens like the top hat or thimble, players can choose pieces such as an airplane seat, golf club, or flip flops. The board itself features customized spaces, replacing railroads with airports and Atlantic City streets with Airbnb locations. Notably, the “Go to Jail” space has been changed to direct players toward “Government Regulation,” with successful navigation indicating movement along a “Progress” path.
Some of the board spaces require players to pay fees for government-issued fines, taxes, or trust and safety charges. Additionally, one of the game’s cards references current American politics by suggesting curiosity about living in Canada.
“Airbnopoly” appears to be more of a novelty gift rather than an indictment against governmental oversight. According to Aria Finger, a podcast cohost and Hoffman’s chief of staff, Hoffman is an avid board game enthusiast, having played games like Settlers of Catan for many years. He created a custom board game titled Settlers of Silicon Valley as gifts for friends, and subsequently developed the Monopoly-themed game for Airbnb, believing it would be a fitting and unique gesture given the platform’s diverse rental offerings.
This development has emerged as Hoffman and his Silicon Valley allies have called for Khan’s dismissal should Harris assume office. Since Khan’s confirmation as chair in 2021, the FTC has pursued investigations into major tech companies such as Amazon, Google, and Meta for potential anticompetitive practices. Although several lawsuits remain unresolved and others have been unsuccessful, Khan scored a significant victory in August when a judge ruled that Google had maintained an illegal monopoly in the online search market.
Hoffman, who sold LinkedIn to Microsoft in 2016 and currently serves on its board, finds Microsoft reportedly under investigation by the FTC as part of a probe into the company’s collaborations and investments in artificial intelligence. A spokesperson for Hoffman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
