Bill Gates makes big move into
social media enterprise as his Microsoft, today, announced that it is acquiring
LinkedIn, the social network for professionals with 433 million users, for $26
billion, on $196 per share, in cash. The transaction has already been approved
by the boards of LinkedIn and Microsoft.
LinkedIn is keeping its branding and
product. It will become a part of Microsoft’s productivity and business processes segment. LinkedIn’s CEO Jeff Weiner will report to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
product. It will become a part of Microsoft’s productivity and business processes segment. LinkedIn’s CEO Jeff Weiner will report to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sent the
below letter to employees to hint them about the new development:
Team,
I'm
excited to share that today Microsoft announced a deal to acquire LinkedIn. You
can see how Jeff Weiner, the CEO of LinkedIn, and I envision the opportunity
ahead in this public presentation.
This
deal brings together the world's leading professional cloud with the world's
leading professional network. I have been learning about LinkedIn for some time
while also reflecting on how networks can truly differentiate cloud services.
It's clear to me that the LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business and an
impressive network of more than 433 million professionals.
Given
this is the biggest acquisition for Microsoft since I became CEO, I wanted to
share with you how I think about acquisitions overall. To start, I consider if
an asset will expand our opportunity — specifically, does it expand our total
addressable market? Is this asset riding secular usage and technology trends?
And does this asset align with our core business and overall sense of purpose?
The
answer to all of those questions with LinkedIn is squarely yes. We are in
pursuit of a common mission centered on empowering people and organizations.
Along with the new growth in our Office 365 commercial and Dynamics businesses
this deal is key to our bold ambition to reinvent productivity and business
processes. Think about it: How people find jobs, build skills, sell, market and
get work done and ultimately find success requires a connected professional
world. It requires a vibrant network that brings together a professional's
information in LinkedIn's public network with the information in Office 365 and
Dynamics. 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. 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.
Jeff
and I both believe we have a significant opportunity to accelerate LinkedIn's
growth and the value it brings to its members with Microsoft's assets and
scale. In fact, when Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, and I spoke about
the opportunity for us to come together, he called it a "re-founding"
moment for LinkedIn and an opportunity to reach the mission the company set out
on 13 years ago.
The
opportunity for Office 365 and Dynamics is just as profound. Over the past
decade we have moved Office from a set of productivity tools to a cloud service
across any platform and device. This deal is the next step forward for Office
365 and Dynamics as they connect to the world’s largest and most valuable
professional network. In essence, we can reinvent ways to make professionals
more productive while at the same time reinventing selling, marketing and
talent management business processes. I can't wait to see what our teams dream
up when we can begin working together once the deal closes, which we expect
will happen this calendar year.
A
big part of this deal is accelerating LinkedIn's growth. To that end, LinkedIn
will retain its distinct brand and independence, as well as their culture which
is very much aligned with ours. Jeff will continue to be CEO of LinkedIn, he'll
report to me and join our senior leadership team. In essence, what I've asked
Jeff to do is manage LinkedIn with key performance metrics that accrue to our
overall success. He'll decide from there what makes sense to integrate and what
does not. We know that near term there will be no changes in who reports to
whom so no reporting relationships at Microsoft will change in that regard.
This approach is designed to keep the LinkedIn team focused on driving results
while simultaneously partnering on product integration plans with the Office
365 and Dynamics teams. During the integration, we'll pick key projects where
we can go deep together that will ultimately result in new experiences for
customers. Kurt DelBene will lead the overall integration efforts at Microsoft
in close partnership with Qi Lu and Scott Guthrie.
I'm
on the LinkedIn campus today in California and will host a call for investors
at 8:45 a.m. PT with Jeff, Brad and Amy – please join if you can. Following
that, I'll then spend the day meeting with the LinkedIn team. Tomorrow, I'll
host a special Microsoft employee Q&A — I hope you can make it.
So
far, what I've learned about the LinkedIn team is how much our cultures share
many of the same attributes. We both care deeply about individual and
collective growth, and find deep meaning in the work we do to make a difference
in our world. Together we'll do just that.
While
I'm in northern California sharing our vision to empower professionals, the
Xbox team is in southern California at E3 sharing our vision to empower gamers.
I encourage you to check out the E3 press briefing, which starts at 9:30 a.m.
Pacific Time.
Finally,
if you're not on LinkedIn, join up now and start using and learning more.
Satya
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