NEW YORK – In a surprise move, Microsoft said Monday that it is buying LinkedIn for about $26.2 billion, a deal that could bring subtle but significant changes for the professional network’s more than 430 million members.
LinkedIn will remain an independent unit of Microsoft. It will keep its name, and current CEO Jeff Weiner will stay on and report directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. LinkedIn lets members network with other professionals, upload their résumés, catch up on career advice and search for jobs.
For Microsoft, the deal presents an opportunity to cement itself as the tech company for the world’s professionals, helping them find jobs, learn new skills and do their work. Microsoft will also look for ways to combine Microsoft’s software for workers with the information stored in LinkedIn’s online professional network.
For instance, Nadella told The Associated Press that Microsoft’s digital assistant Cortana could mine LinkedIn for helpful data. “Cortana can wake up before you go into a meeting and inform you about all the people you are meeting for the first time and the connections you have with them,” he said.
Similarly, he said, LinkedIn’s “news feed” – which provides articles and updates from your contacts on the network – could highlight information that’s relevant to a project you might be working on using Microsoft’s Office 365 software. LinkedIn users might see changes in the first year after the deal is closed, Nadella said.
Microsoft may also integrate its business software with LinkedIn’s growing business of providing sales professionals with contacts and information to help make sales to large companies.
LinkedIn, based in Mountain View, California, is by far Microsoft’s largest acquisition – much larger than Skype, which the company bought for $8.5 billion in 2011. Microsoft Corp., which is in Redmond, Washington, is paying $196 for each share of LinkedIn Corp., a 50 percent premium over the stock’s closing price of $131.08 on Friday. The deal is expected to close this year.
Microsoft has a mixed track record with acquisitions, having written off more than $10 billion it poured into companies such as cellphone maker Nokia and an online ad firm called aQuantive. Nadella expressed confidence that this one will succeed, citing the company’s more successful takeovers of Skype and Minecraft.
LinkedIn shares soared 47 percent to $192.50 in midday trading Monday. Microsoft shares slipped nearly 3 percent to $50.01.
AP Technology Writer Brandon Bailey contributed to this story from San Francisco.
