A while ago, LinkedIn the professionals social network was in the limelight , not for the good news though, owing to the dumping of over 117 million of its passwords online but a special turn of events today has seen it getting scooped by software giant, Microsoft.
The all cash deal is totaling to $26.2 billion and is set for LinkedIn’s board & regulatory approval to consider it a done one.
The deal marks Redmond’s legitimate foray into social networking, a field it had shied from over the years while scores of netizens flooded Facebook, Twitter, and spiraling Snapchat among others. LinkedIn over the years has amassed 433 million registered users, of which 105 million are active. It has enjoyed an unchallenged lead with the professionals, seeing over 7 million job listings. The only viable challenger seems the Facebook For Work service but it’s limited in reach for it being deployed in a handful of countries and organizations while LinkedIn is active in over 200 countries.
“The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world’s professionals,” Nadella said in a statement. “Together 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.”
LinkedIn’s current C.E.O, Jeff Weiner will retain the title and report directly to Satya Nadella. The company is said to be folded in Microsoft’s productivity and business’ segment though it will retain its product and branding. The deal is set to close later in the year, 2016 utmost.
