14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has just announced that it’s taking over LinkedIn business social networking service for $26.2 billion (€23.2 billion), and the transaction is expected to close this calendar year.
The company hasn’t revealed what exactly it plans to do with LinkedIn or how it wants to integrate it into its own offering, but in a press release today, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has given assurances that the social network will retain its “distinct brand, culture and independence.”
Furthermore, Jeff Weiner, who is now the CEO of LinkedIn, will continue to lead the company, only that from now on he will report directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
“The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world’s professionals,” Nadella has said. “Together 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.”
More than 440 million LinkedIn users
Microsoft has revealed that its board unanimously approved the takeover of LinkedIn, the social networking service that currently has nearly 440 million users around the world. Satya Nadella is clearly aiming for integration into Office 365 and other business solutions to connect users in the workplace, and this is his first big acquisition since joining Microsoft.
The takeover of Nokia’s Devices and Services unit was started by former CEO Steve Ballmer, and although it was completed during this tenure at the helm of Microsoft, it wasn’t a move that he agreed to, according to people close to the matter.
“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 has stated in a press statement today. “For the last 13 years, we’ve been uniquely positioned to connect professionals to make them more productive and successful, and I’m looking forward to leading our team through the next chapter of our story.”
Microsoft’s Satya Nadella is expected to discuss plans to integrate LinkedIn into his company’s product portfolio in the coming weeks and months as the acquisition is advancing towards completion.
UPDATE: Read the internal emails that MIcrosoft CEO Satya Nadella and LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner sent to employees this morning.
