LinkedIn,
the Social Network for Professionals and Job seekers, is now under new
management.
Microsoft
snapped up the company from US$26.2 billion dollars on Monday July 13th
2016 as per their Press Release entitled “Microsoft
to acquire LinkedIn”, Posted June 13, 2016 By Microsoft News Center.
Linked
in has some impressive stats:
1.
433 million members worldwide
2.
105 million unique visiting members per
month
3.
45 billion quarterly member page views
4.
7 million active job listings
LinkedIn
albeit boring, a slow growing gentle giant of the Social Media scene as pointed
out in the article “Microsoft
to acquire LinkedIn for $26.2 billion”, published June 13 2016 by Tom
Warren, The Verge.
An
all cash deal, it's bigger than even their acquisition of Mojang for some
September 2014 as detailed in my blog article
entitled “US$2.5
billion purchase of Mojang by Microsoft - How Minecraft will help Microsoft to
build on Xbox Success”.
At
the time, spending some US$2.5 billion to acquire Markus “Notch” Persson, the
creator of the hit game Minecraft, raised eyebrows in certain circles, as it
hinted at Microsoft taking Gaming seriously.
Check
out this video of an interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and LinkedIn
CEO Jeff Weiner for a better perspective on this deal.
With
the launch of the Hololens, [article reference], this may well be the case, as
Microsoft was used as part of the demonstration of the capabilities of AR
(Augmented Reality).
So
why buy LinkedIn?
Microsoft purchase of
LinkedIn - Mobile Social Media for Business is Growing Strong
This
latest purchase now has many thinking that Microsoft is again making a stab at
Business Social Media.
The
company is one that's growing, albeit very slowly as noted in the article “Microsoft buys
LinkedIn”, published June 13 2016 by Steven Tweedie and Alyson Shontell, Business Insider.
In
2015 they'd taken the following decisions that have resulted in increased
profitability for the company:
1.
Launched a new mobile app
2.
Improved LinkedIn newsfeed for business
insights
3.
Acquired Lynda.com, an online learning
platform
4.
Revamped their Recruiter product for
their enterprise customers
The
results speak for themselves:
1.
19% growth YOY (year over year) to more
than 433 million members worldwide
2.
9% growth YOY to more than 105 million
unique visiting members per month
3.
49% growth YOY to 60 percent mobile
usage
4.
34% growth YOY to more than 45 billion
quarterly member page views
5.
101% growth YOY to more than 7 million
active job listings
This
may well be the case yet again, being as they'd attempted to do this by having
a stake in Facebook and their acquisition of Yammer for $1.2 billion in 2012 as
pointed out in the article “Microsoft
to buy LinkedIn for $26.2B in cash, makes big move into enterprise social media”,
published June 13 2016 by Ingrid Lunden,
Techcrunch.
Mobile
Social Networks may be the way many people communicate and connect in the
future, especially now that they're monetizing with custom sticker and emojis
as I'd pointed out in my blog article
entitled “LinkedIn
Instant Messaging and Private Groups - Why Stickers and Emoji for Professionals
has a Jamaican Touch”.
Microsoft,
an investor in Facebook, also want to be a part of the Social side of Business,
as LinkedIn is Growing Strong!
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