Yes, you read right – Microsoft is acquiring LinkedIn, it will cost them $26.2 billion and we expect that the deal will be concluded by the end of the year. Why does Microsoft need “the world’s largest professional social network”?
First, to marry it with their ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), and CRM software, Dynamics, and use that as a springboard to overtake Salesforce in that market. TechCrunch notes that they want to use LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator to “transform the sales cycle with actionable insights”. Second, possibly to take advantage of some of LinkedIn’s acquisitions like Lynda and cement its place as the authority in the professional/enterprise/productivity space. Third, possibly to get started fixing LinkedIn’s horrible UI/UX (lol).
[UPDATE]: I just found this interesting thread of tweets by TechCrunch columnist, Tadhg Kelly about the acquisition.
1. LinkedIn would be a great value addition to the existing Office subscription
— Tadhged Reality (@tiedtiger) June 13, 2016
2. Also fusing Outlook and LinkedIn together. LinkedIn is basically a giant contacts database after all. Drop InMail and go Outlook
— Tadhged Reality (@tiedtiger) June 13, 2016
3. (And with Skype etc)
— Tadhged Reality (@tiedtiger) June 13, 2016
4. There are also potential hookups with document sharing etc.
— Tadhged Reality (@tiedtiger) June 13, 2016
5. It also means LinkedIn can finally scale back on all that spammy ness that's built up over the years
— Tadhged Reality (@tiedtiger) June 13, 2016
6. And find a use beyond job ads and weird self promotional blogs of no real worth.
— Tadhged Reality (@tiedtiger) June 13, 2016
7. Downside is Microsoft historically often doesn't quite know what to do with its acquisitions.
— Tadhged Reality (@tiedtiger) June 13, 2016
8. A good example is Skype. Skype ticks along but it largely missed the mobile messenger app boom, seemed to get a bit stuck
— Tadhged Reality (@tiedtiger) June 13, 2016
9. And the same could very easily happen to LinkedIn. Microsoft is famously full of fiefdoms, hard to get anything global done.
— Tadhged Reality (@tiedtiger) June 13, 2016
Of course now the URL will change to microsoftlinkedinpoweredbywindows10 DOT com
— Tadhged Reality (@tiedtiger) June 13, 2016
Nothing will change about the inner workings of the company, for now – Jeff Weiner will remain in charge of LinkedIn, only this time, he’ll be reporting to Satya Nadella, the Microsoft CEO. If you’re interested enough, and you have enough data, here’s a video of Satya and Jeff talking about the acquisition, and a blogpost I read from Jeff on LinkedIn’s blog.
https://youtu.be/-89PWn0QaaY
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Today we are excited to share that LinkedIn has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Microsoft. We are joining forces with Microsoft to realize a common mission to empower people and organizations. LinkedIn’s vision – to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce – is not changing and our members still come first.
Our companies are the world’s leading professional cloud and network. This deal will allow us to keep growing, investing in and innovating on LinkedIn to drive value for our members and our customers. Our members will continue to develop their skills, find a job and be great at that job, using our platform. We will continue to help our customers hire top talent, market their brand, and sell to their customers.
The LinkedIn you know and value is only getting better. LinkedIn will retain its distinct brand, culture and independence. We’ve been changing the way the world’s professionals have connected to opportunity for 13 years, and this is an opportunity for us to truly change the way the world works on a massive scale.
I’m incredibly energized by what this means for our members and employees, and for my personal perspective on this news, I encourage you to read my Influencer post. You can find more details on the agreement on the Microsoft News Center and the LinkedIn Newsroom.
