14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft announced its decision to take over business social networking service LinkedIn earlier today, and because there are a lot of questions to be asked following this acquisition, CEO Satya Nadella decided to answer a few of them in an email sent to employees this morning.
While Nadella’s email is pretty long and focuses on Microsoft’s ambition to empower people to do more, but also on the company’s investments in productivity, it’s important to note that the CEO sees LinkedIn as an important segment of Redmond’s portfolio, as it can become a valuable part of Office 365.
“This combination will make it possible for new experiences such as a LinkedIn newsfeed that serves up articles based on the project you are working on and Office suggesting an expert to connect with via LinkedIn to help with a task you're trying to complete,” Satya Nadella explains.
“As these experiences get more intelligent and delightful, the LinkedIn and Office 365 engagement will grow. And in turn, new opportunities will be created for monetization through individual and organization subscriptions and targeted advertising.”
LinkedIn CEO’s email
In a separate email submitted to employees, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, who will continue to lead the company after the acquisition but will report to Satya Nadella, explains that both companies have similar mission statements “and essentially, we’re both trying to the same thing.”
But what attracted him the most was the idea of independence, he explains, because, despite the fact that LinkedIn will be owned by Microsoft, it will continue to act as a standalone identity with its own CEO and business.
“Together, along with Reid, Bill Gates, my former colleague Qi Lu, and new partner Scott Guthrie, we would partner on how best to leverage this extraordinary combination of assets while pursuing a shared mission. This, we both agreed, might not only be a structure that could work, it would be one in which both companies could thrive,” he states.
Weiner adds that little will change for LinkedIn employees but says that workers whose role is “maintaining LinkedIn’s status as a publicly traded company” will receive some guidance to “help find your next play.”
You can read Satya Nadella’s and Jeff Weiner’s full emails to employees below.