Microsoft To Acquire LinkedIn For $26.2 Billion + 6 Ways You Will Benefit From The deal

Microsoft has confirmed it is ready to  buy the professional social network LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in cash, a move that helps refocus the US tech giant around cloud computing and services.

With its biggest-ever acquisition and one of the largest in the tech sector, Microsoft takes a big step into the world of social networking and adds a new tool for its efforts to boost services for business.


“This deal brings together the world’s leading professional cloud with the world’s leading professional network,” Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said in a statement. 

“It’s clear to me that the LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business and an impressive network of more than 433 million professionals.” 

According to a statement from the two firms, LinkedIn “will retain its distinct brand, culture and independence,” with Jeff Weiner remaining at CEO of LinkedIn. 

“Just as we have changed the way the world connects to opportunity, this relationship with Microsoft, and the combination of their cloud and LinkedIn’s network, now gives us a chance to also change the way the world works,” Weiner said.

The two firms said they had reached a “definitive” agreement that would close later this year, with the support of LinkedIn chairman and controlling shareholder Reid Hoffman. The move comes with Microsoft moving away from being a pure software firm, and LinkedIn seeking ways to boost growth. 

LinkedIn, which enables members to connect with similar-minded professionals and facilitates recruiting and job hunting, has carved out a social network with a distinct identity. But LinkedIn in the past quarter reported a loss of $46 million and a $166 million loss for 2015, which let its shares at multiyear lows early this year. Nadella, in an email to staff, said the deal reflects Microsoft’s new focus on the enterprise and cloud.

Microsoft has provided insights into how the companies’ products might work together.

1. LinkedIn profiles, containing a person’s resume, skills and endorsements and recommendations from colleagues, will be visible not just in LinkedIn but also in Microsoft’s Outlook, Skype and Office.

2. LinkedIn’s newsfeed, part of each member’s home page, will be able to provide articles about projects the member is pursuing. Then, through Office, it will be able to suggest experts reachable through LinkedIn to assist with the task. The feed will incorporate the member’s calendar too.

3. Cortana, Microsoft’s digital assistant, will “know” your LinkedIn professional network, for example informing you that you went to the same school as someone you’re meeting with later that day.

4. Users of Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM will be able to connect to LinkedIn Sales Navigator, which uses LinkedIn’s member network to help salespeople build relationships.

5. Corporate leaders will be better able to track who spends time with and collaborates with whom, providing insight into their workers’ productivity.

6. LinkedIn Learning will be integrated with Office, recommending and providing learning in the workplace. LinkedIn bought leading online-learning site Lynda.com in April 2015 for $1.5 billion.