Microsoft closed its biggest deal ever by purchasing LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. This deal exceeded the one Microsoft made by purchasing Skype for $8.5 billion back in 2011. Six months ago, Microsoft had announced that they planned on buying LinkedIn, and this Thursday the details were made final.
Although Microsoft will own LinkedIn, the CEO of the company, Jeff Weiner will still oversee the company. LinkedIn simply reports to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Weiner commented on the deal saying that he was “more confident than ever” about the pair up with Microsoft.
LinkedIn has been around for nearly thirteen years providing free online resume service to its 433 million users. While initial services are free, you must pay if you want other features like sending messages to people you don’t know and making advanced searches.
LinkedIn has had its fair share of hard times. The company has tried very hard to expand its brand further than being just an online resume. The expansion included the $1.5 billion purchase of Lynda.com and the upgrade of the LinkedIn mobile app. Weiner said, “This relationship with Microsoft, and the combination of their cloud and LinkedIn’s network, now gives us a chance to…change the way the world works.”
For those of us who are current LinkedIn users, Wiener says that, for now, things with the site will remain the same. During the next few months, however, we can only wait and see what type of interesting influence Microsoft products will have on LinkedIn.
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