Who Owns LinkedIn?

Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue, Konstantin Guericke, Eric Ly, and Jean-Luc Vaillant co-founded LinkedIn in December 2002. The platform launched publicly on May 5, 2003. Hoffman had previously been an executive vice president at PayPal and was a partner at venture capital firm Greylock Partners. The founding team's vision was to create a professional identity platform that would help people manage their careers and connect with professional opportunities.

LinkedIn grew steadily through the mid-2000s, reaching 1 million members in 2004, 5 million in 2006, and 25 million in 2008. The company raised venture capital from Sequoia Capital and Greylock Partners and expanded internationally, launching localized versions in multiple languages. Revenue was generated through premium subscriptions, recruitment tools sold to employers, and advertising.

Jeff Weiner joined as CEO in 2009, bringing operational discipline and a clear product vision. Under Weiner's leadership, LinkedIn expanded its product suite significantly. The company acquired SlideShare (presentation sharing) in 2012 for $119 million, Pulse (news aggregation) in 2013 for $90 million, and Lynda.com (online learning) in 2015 for $1.5 billion. These acquisitions broadened LinkedIn from a professional directory into a content and learning platform.

LinkedIn went public on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2011 under ticker LNKD, raising approximately $353 million at a valuation of approximately $4.3 billion. The IPO was one of the most successful technology IPOs of the year. The stock price more than doubled on its first day of trading.

By 2015, LinkedIn had grown to over 400 million members and was generating approximately $3 billion in annual revenue. Microsoft announced its acquisition of LinkedIn in June 2016 for $26.2 billion, a 50% premium to LinkedIn's then-current stock price. The deal closed in December 2016 after regulatory approval in the United States, European Union, and Canada.

Under Microsoft ownership, LinkedIn has continued to grow. The platform surpassed 1 billion members in November 2023. LinkedIn has integrated with Microsoft 365, allowing users to view LinkedIn profiles within Outlook and Teams. The platform has expanded its content features, including LinkedIn Learning (built on the Lynda.com acquisition), LinkedIn Live video streaming, and LinkedIn News. In FY2025, LinkedIn revenue grew approximately 9% year over year, contributing to Microsoft's Productivity and Business Processes segment.