LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman has been immersed in Silicon Valley since his August 1967 birth in Palo Alto, California, in the shadow of Stanford University, where he and fellow technology luminary Peter Thiel became friends as college students during the 1980s.

The party symbolized the euphoria of the tech industry on the cusp of the Trump presidency. The guest list included Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Miriam Adelson and the vice president-elect, JD Vance.

Yet another person with ties to a network of powerful techno-billionaires is set to join the Trump administration.

Howery, a graduate of Stanford University, was part of the "PayPal Mafia" with his college classmate Peter Thiel and Musk, The New York Times reports. Howery and Thiel later established Founders Fund, a venture capital firm. Howery was an ambassador to ...