Who owns LinkedIn Microsoft? Find out here!

29/08/2024

YES, ✅LinkedIn Microsoft is one big company, LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft! Microsoft bought LinkedIn in 2016 for $26.2 billion. This is the most expensive purchase of a social network in the (short, but intense) history of social networking. 😱

LinkedIn Microsoft is one of the biggest influences on the market

Microsoft is part of the GAFAM. They are the most powerful companies in the world. These companies have been buying up new startups as if they’re hot croissants at a French bakery.

They are:

Google.
Amazon.
Facebook (now: Meta).
Apple.
Microsoft.

Microsoft recently bought LinkedIn, Candy Crush, and Minecraft. Here is some of the most important info about the company:

⏲ Created in 4 April 1975.
👨‍⚖️ Current director: Satya Nadella.
🤝 Founders: Bill Gates, Paul Allen.
💰 Revenue: $110.36 billion (2018).

Why did Microsoft buy LinkedIn?

So Microsoft didn’t hesitate to drop a big bill to acquire social media giant LinkedIn. It’s like buying Boardwalk in Monopoly. You know it’s going to hurt your bank account, but as soon as someone stumbles upon it, you’ll triple your ROI (return on investment). And why do you think that is?

Because LinkedIn is a very good investment. It’s the largest professional social media, and also one of the most monetizable data recovery platforms. 💰 LinkedIn has a monopoly on the market. It’s the only global professional network with millions of daily active users.

And today, the most valuable thing is our data (selling data), which already proved more valuable than oil (in 2019). In its article, Forbes announces:

Data Is The New Oil — And That’s A Good Thing

And LinkedIn has it all figured out. For me, it is the smartest network of all. It sells highly qualified data* to professionals.

* That is, we all fill in our profile meticulously to boost our e-reputation.

This data that we meticulously fill in is used (among other things) to carry out targeted LinkedIn advertising by advertisers.

The user gains visibility, develops partnerships, and finds prospects.
The advertiser sells its products and services via ads and content marketing.

So the more users there are, the more data there is to sell (logical). And the more data there is, the more advertisers (and therefore buyers) there are.

💫 It’s a virtuous circle 💫

So, LinkedIn’s goal is to always increase the number of subscribers and their engagement. Learn more about how LinkedIn makes money. 👀

Why did Microsoft choose LinkedIn?

Therefore, Microsoft owns Skype and LinkedIn, but wants to expand its tech investments (as if they’re not rich and powerful enough as it is 😂).

The Microsoft Redmond group has a great interest in social media networks. In fact, the group has repeatedly expressed its ambition to buy a big social media platform like:

Pinterest, for a $51 billion buyout, (not bad).
TikTok, without having made any official announcements about a price. 🤫

The goal? To become the leader of digital companies.

When did Microsoft buy LinkedIn?

It was on June 13, 2016 that Microsoft bought LinkedIn from Reid Hoffman and Allen Blue, the two founders of the social network. Since then, LinkedIn has been growing and earning even more than ever before. LinkedIn revenue topped $10 billion in 2021, from $5 billion in 2018.

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Who owns LinkedIn? How much did Microsoft buy LinkedIn for?

Yes, in 2023, LinkedIn is still owned by Microsoft, and it doesn’t look like that will be changing anytime soon. The company bought LinkedIn for $26.2 billion.

How does LinkedIn remain the leader?

As we said, LinkedIn is the best card in Monopoly. There are a few companies like Viadeo that have had the ambition to outdo the network, but unsuccessfully.

Latest data (January 2022) = worldwide search around LinkedIn and Video in the past 12 months*

LinkedIn remains a leader in several ways:

With digital transformation, many countries have started to have access to the internet all the time and LinkedIn’s popularity in the workplace has grown tenfold. It is a “must have” to develop your career.
It’s constantly evolved by following digital trends: LinkedIn has developed articles, webinars, podcasts…
Its algorithm chooses which content is more engaging according to the user (personalized experience) that allows them to stay engaged on the network.
It’s positioning as a digital media. Today, 89% of decision-makers think that LinkedIn is a trusted source of business news.
Its focus is on human resources. LinkedIn sees itself as a “career facilitator”, developing an intuitive “job search” space and a real job market.
Its business model is based on ads + premium offers, all aligned with the values and market position of the network.

Don’t miss out on professional opportunities anymore. Don’t miss out on the career of your dreams. Use LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is the largest professional social network in the world

We are social animals, we love to communicate, and we never stop doing so.

LinkedIn is the most popular social media for B2b.
The rise of social media in the past 5 years has just been incredible.
The number of users has exploded.

LinkedIn users 2024

(Source: Statista.com)

It was said earlier, and I’m repeating myself (but you love it):

Microsoft bought LinkedIn in 2016 for $26 billion, at that point it had 433 million of users. So if you do the math, that’s just under 60 dollars per user. That means that if you had LinkedIn in 2016, they already put a 60-dollar bill on your head. Now, the network has mind-blowing numbers:

1 billion users worldwide in 2024.
790 million users worldwide (January 2022).
The revenue of LinkedIn increased by $928 million. That is +16% between Q1 and Q2 2021.
Mostly active users: 303 million in 2021.
The networking platform’s profits are beyond $10 billion.

Where did I get this data? Read Microsoft’s press release.

How can you take advantage of LinkedIn Microsoft?

There are several ways to leverage the network. And after all, why not? LinkedIn Microsoft makes money from you every day, so you should make sure you’re also getting something in return, right?

Well, there are actually plenty of ways to use LinkedIn to your benefit.

This article is here to help you learn a little more about LinkedIn, and how you can use it to grow your network or find clients. One of the key tools that will help you achieve that goal is Waalaxy. You can download Waalaxy right away, and use it free of charge!🎁

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Inbound marketing on LinkedIn

An inbound marketing strategy. The goal is to bring a prospect who doesn’t know you, or who doesn’t know you very well, to become a customer by offering them quality content.

Post and be active on selected social networks.
Organize webinars, conferences, podcasts…
Share a white paper or a newsletter.
Write very cool articles like the one you’re reading right now.
Work on your SEO and blogging skills.

🔥 Access the complete Guide to Inbound Marketing on LinkedIn for free. 🔥

Community Management

Digital communication and social media management are part of inbound marketing.

Some people are specialized in community management and manage several social networking platforms at once.

Their goal is to create a social media marketing strategy to build higher conversions for the company.

For that, they often use certain tools to schedule their posts and to make them visible to their target audience. Podawaa is one of those tools. LinkedIn is the most efficient network to create a community and get followers in B2b.

If you want more free tips like this, make sure you sign up to our Waalaxy newsletter.

🔥 Get access to the Complete Guide to Content Strategy on LinkedIn for free. 🔥

Prospecting with LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an incredible goldmine for lead generation.

The best part?

You don’t need to use LinkedIn media advertising or the paid automated messaging service offered by LinkedIn. No, you can do all of this free with an automation tool. 🥳

Send hundreds of messages to qualified prospects.
Create fun and easy-to-use campaigns.
Be accompanied by digital experts via chat.
Track your results.
Use the freemium version. (By free we really do mean free. No tricks, no fake promises).

🔥 Click here to get started with Waalaxy. The leading automated LinkedIn lead generation tool, that’s free to use. 🔥

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Recruiting on LinkedIn

There are more than 20 million open jobs on LinkedIn Jobs per day, and the most active users are recruiters or marketers.

LinkedIn has become a necessity for recruiters and talent hunters. The network makes it possible to quickly identify jobseekers thanks to the alert function of their profile. It also makes it easier to lure highly sought out talent away 😈 – something that is done more and more since the rise in demand in certain niche areas such as in tech (engineers, developers).

What’s great about LinkedIn is that in addition to being able to easily post your offers, you have access to the full profiles of the people who apply, and you can discover a lot more information about the candidates. (What they post, which companies they follow).

🔥 Access our free guide on how to use our free tool (Waalaxy) to get the best out of Recruiter Lite. 🔥

Job Search on LinkedIn

42 million people (worldwide) use LinkedIn to search for a job every week. Those aren’t small numbers.

It proves two things:

It works. (I found all my internships and jobs through LinkedIn, and now my life is great).
The competition is tough. (This is not just the case on LinkedIn, but it goes to show that the bare minimum is no longer good enough. You need good tactics).

You’re going to have to work harder to find the right company, and you’ll have to let them know that they need you, too. I guess you already know that if you don’t personalize your resume and cover letter, you won’t get very far. Now, to stand out in the LinkedIn jungle, there are three steps to follow:

💄 Have a nice, completely up-to-date LinkedIn profile.
📣 Announce to recruiters that you are seeking employment.
🔍 Conduct an effective job search.

Make your startup shine

Whether you’re in Fintech or selling dog products, if you’re launching your business, you’re going to need visibility, partnerships, and surely investors. Web marketing and using networks will be your first weapon. 😈

You can use LinkedIn completely free of charge. You just use the feed (news feed) to post regularly, and you use a free tool like Waalaxy to launch your campaigns. With that alone, you gain credibility and win your first customers.

Without haven’t spent a dime.

It’s almost too good to be true.

Except it isn’t.

Want to find out more?

🔥 Get access to our comprehensive Guide on how to use LinkedIn for your business free of charge 🔥.

Getting started as a freelancer

The number of freelancers keeps going up.

As does the rate of people dissatisfied with freelancing 😂 (76% of freelancers are more worried than ever before). But that’s not the point of this section.

The biggest boom started at the end of 2019/early-2020. The main factors were the start of Covid-19, mixed with the increasing desire for individuals to create something of their own.

So now LinkedIn is full of freelancers fighting for the same clients.

Why?

Because LinkedIn is the best place to find your first clients and start your business. Every company looking for freelancers is looking on social media and websites.

If you don’t want to be the last kid left on the bench waiting to be picked, I strongly recommend you include LinkedIn in your marketing strategy.

You can start right away with these 3 key steps:

Develop your image and brand awareness.
Find your potential customers, contact them, and make them clients.
Be active on social media and expand your network.

🔥 For a comprehensive guide to this, check out our article: getting started as a Freelancer. 🔥

Which GAFAM does LinkedIn belong to? Microsoft

Because they have a lot (too much) market share. Our friend Google is at the top of the list with 92.3% of its market, and it’s a virtuous circle.

The more the search engine is used, the more it is fed, the more it gains value, and thus the more it gains a lead on its competitors.

We can see (in this beautiful graph) that Apple is losing a bit of influence. The smartphone market is very competitive, and Apple has a very specific target market, and does not really do low cost.

Chart: A Decade of Growth for GAFAM | Statista

Let’s zoom in on each of the big 5 to get all the juicy details. 👇👀

1. Google

Google owns 219 companies, in 2019 it is adding several strings to its bow:

Superpod = Question and answer software.
Alooma = Database migration to the cloud.
Nightcorn = Video sharing.
Looker = Business anaytics.
Fossil = Connected watch.

2. Amazon

Amazon owns Amazon. Which is already huge given the supremacy of its empire, but then consider the fact that it owns over 38 other companies, and you’ll understand just how powerful Amazon is.

Here are some of the most recognizable brands owned by Amazon:

Alexa = Audio assistant.
Audible = Audiobooks.
Twitch = streaming platform.

3. Meta (formerly Facebook)

Yes, Facebook changed its name in October 2021, even though nobody calls it Meta yet. Facebook decided to invest only in social networking sites. In fact, it bought Instagram in 2012 for only $1 billion. It’s just one of the most incredible investments in history. 😱

The value of Instagram is now 100 billion dollars (at the time that this article was being written).

🏴‍☠️ In its treasure chest, the network also has:

Messenger.
WhatsApp.
Instagram.
Libra.
FriendFeed.
Gowalla.

Ps: Facebook’s market share is nowhere to be found. 🤷

4. Apple

Apple is one of those companies that own tons of companies and collect them in spades. Today, the giant has 107 in its bag. In 2020/2021 it acquired a few more:

Camerai and Spaces = augmented reality.
Vilynx and Curious AI = artificial intelligence.
Primephonic = music streaming.

If you don’t recognize them, no worries, just know they’re major tech companies 😂.

5. Microsoft

Microsoft comes in second. That’s 211 companies under its umbrella. Its biggest acquisition being LinkedIn, which cost them an arm and a leg 🤑 (English expression that translates to really, really expensive.) The 4 biggest purchases of Microsoft were:

LinkedIn in 2016 = the best B2b social network.
GitHub in 2018 = web hosting.
Nokia in 2013 = cell phones.
aQantive in 2007= web marketing (owned by Atlas group).

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Conclusion: Who is LinkedIn owned by?

LinkedIn was acquired by Microsoft in 2016 for over $26 million, which is owned by Bill Gates.

Microsoft has ambitions to expand its influence by buying and using social media platforms. The group has indicated interest in Pinterest and TikTok. 😱

Article FAQ

What does the “M” in GAFAM mean?

If you don’t know the answer, then you are playing a joke on me because we all know that LinkedIn belongs to Microsoft. So, Microsoft is the “M” in GAFAM. 😮

If this is the first time you’ve landed on this blog, in that case, okay, I’m willing to understand that you don’t know what LinkedIn is…

With LinkedIn, you can:

Connect 💡 to other people.
Expand your network.
Make new professional connections.
Share about a topic you’re an expert on…

Who owned LinkedIn before Microsoft?

Prior to its acquisition by Microsoft, LinkedIn was a publicly traded company. The company completed its initial public offering (IPO) in 2011. LinkedIn was owned by its founders, senior executives, and early investors.

Microsoft then acquired LinkedIn in 2016 for approximately $26.2 billion, making it one of the largest acquisitions in technology at the time!

Is LinkedIn fully owned by Microsoft?

Yes, LinkedIn is fully owned by Microsoft. Microsoft completed its acquisition in December 2016, and since then, LinkedIn has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft.

The acquisition allows LinkedIn to leverage Microsoft resources while operating with some independence within Microsoft’s larger corporate structure.