Why LinkedIn is worth $26.2 billion to Microsoft
The Facebook of the business world is getting a new owner.
On Monday, Microsoft announced it will acquire LinkedIn, the professional social network, for $26.2 billion, or $196 per share. LinkedIn will remain its own independent brand, but its chief executive, Jeff Weiner, will report to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. LinkedIn鈥檚 finances will be reported in Microsoft鈥檚 Productivity and Business Processes segment going forward.
鈥淭oday is a re-founding moment for LinkedIn. I see incredible opportunity for our members and customers and look forward to supporting this new and combined business,鈥� Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn鈥檚 board chairman, in a statement.
LinkedIn has been busy forming corporate partnerships in recent years. In April of 2015, LinkedIn Lynda, an online learning platform, for $1.5 billion. It鈥檚 also revamped its mobile app and made tweaks to its newsfeed, with the aim of sharpening its presentation and delivering a better user experience.
According to the company, the partnership with Lynda, and the mobile and web updates, have increased LinkedIn鈥檚 membership by 19 percent, to more than 433 million members over the past year. LinkedIn鈥檚 mobile user base has also grown. Sixty percent of the site's users now connect through its mobile platform.
鈥淭he LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world鈥檚 professionals,鈥� Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement. 鈥淭ogether we can accelerate the growth of LinkedIn, as well as Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics as we seek to empower every person and organization on the planet.鈥�
鈥淔or the last 13 years, we鈥檝e been uniquely positioned to connect professionals to make them more productive and successful, and I鈥檓 looking forward to leading our team through the next chapter of our story,鈥澛燣inkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said in a press release.聽
LinkedIn regularly conducts research based on its users鈥� job experience, and in doing do has has built up a vast database of employment information. In early June, the company launched a that allow users who have a 鈥淛ob Seekers鈥� subscription to access openings where they would be among the most successful applicants for the position. Users will also be able to see the companies that are growing the fastest in their chosen field. 聽聽
The companies say the partnership will help LinkedIn improve its offerings, including job listings and Recruiter, a hiring tool. But it also help Microsoft, which 聽will be pooling its professional cloud resources with LinkedIn鈥檚 professional network to connect and empower more businesses and individuals.
鈥淛ust as we have changed the way the world connects to opportunity, this relationship with Microsoft, and the combination of their cloud and LinkedIn鈥檚 network, now gives us a chance to also change the way the world works,鈥� Weiner said.
The LinkedIn acquisition is the latest investment Microsoft has made in the cloud computing space. In May, Microsoft $71 million in Pivotal, a cloud computing and Big Data firm based in Silicon Valley, during a funding round that totaled $253 million. Microsoft made the investment in order to better integrate Microsoft鈥檚 cloud computing services with the ones that Pivotal offers. 聽
Cloud computing is becoming important in a wide array of industries, even beyond Silicon Valley. Automaker Ford also got in on the action,聽investing聽$182.2 million in Pivotal.
