Microsoft is announcing today that it plans to acquire LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. Microsoft\u2019s deal to acquire the work-focused social networking giant is an all-cash transaction, and it will value LinkedIn\u2019s shares at $196 each. Microsoft says LinkedIn will retain its own brand and independence, and existing CEO Jeff Weiner will remain and report directly to Satya Nadella.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world\u2019s professionals,\u201d Nadella said. \u201cTogether 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.\u201d Microsoft is planning to close its acquisition later this year, and the deal has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.\u00a0This is Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella\u2019s first big acquisition since he took over the top job more than two years ago.\u00a0Microsoft is positioning the combination as the \u201cworld\u2019s leading professional cloud\u201d together with the \u201cworld\u2019s leading professional network.\u201d It\u2019s clear this is a big acquisition for Microsoft, both in terms of cash value and what LinkedIn brings to the company. More than 433 million people use LinkedIn worldwide to network, find jobs, and reconnect with old colleagues. Many of those LinkedIn users also pay for premium services to use the site.<\/p>\n
Microsoft isn\u2019t saying exactly what it will use its LinkedIn acquisition for, but it\u2019s easy to imagine it being used as a key way to boost the company\u2019s social networking presence. Microsoft did invest in Facebook in the relatively early stages, but the company has struggled to break into enterprise social networks.\u00a0Microsoft spent $1.2 billion on Yammer<\/a>back nearly four years ago, but businesses haven\u2019t flocked to the tool as much as Microsoft had hoped. The software giant now plans to hold a conference call at 11:45AM ET to discuss its LinkedIn acquisition, and we\u2019ll update you accordingly with any additional details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Microsoft is announcing today that it plans to acquire LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. Microsoft\u2019s deal to acquire the work-focused social networking giant is an all-cash transaction, and it will value LinkedIn\u2019s shares at $196 each. Microsoft says LinkedIn will retain its own brand and independence, and existing CEO Jeff Weiner will remain and report directly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akturk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akturk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akturk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akturk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akturk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=958"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.akturk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":959,"href":"https:\/\/www.akturk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958\/revisions\/959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.akturk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akturk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.akturk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}