Microsoft purchasing LinkedIn for $26.2B

Networking site will provide valuable data

Microsoft said Monday that it is buying LinkedIn for about $26.2 billion.

LinkedIn will remain an independent unit of Microsoft. It will keep its name, and current chief executive Jeff Weiner will stay on and report directly to Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella.

LinkedIn lets members network with other professionals, upload their resumes, 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.

Microsoft’s digital assistant Cortana could mine LinkedIn for helpful data, Nadella said.

“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 based 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.