His father, a Jewish Austrian, emigrated to the United States in 1906 and opened a poultry store, while his mother was a Scottish-American immigrant who grew up in Kentucky.

Instead of continuing his career in the air force, Hoffman attended Harvard Business School, where he became interested in real estate development.

[4] After leaving Harvard, Hoffman got a job for KB Homes, a developer in Detroit, Michigan.

[7] Hoffman donated $1 million to Right to Rise, a Super PAC supporting Jeb Bush's 2016 presidential candidacy.

[10] Following a February 2018 school shooting in Florida, Hoffman publicized an email sent to Florida governor Rick Scott and former governor Jeb Bush, among others, pledging to no longer fund legislative groups or candidates who were not actively working to ban sales of military-style assault weapons to civilians.