![]() It was also expected that Microsoft had all it would take – in terms of the fund, manpower, and infrastructure, among others – to steer LinkedIn out of the doldrums and into profitability. Investors were expected to bank on Microsoft’s profile as a well-grounded company. One obvious reason the worth of the company was bound to receive a face lift after the acquisition deal was Microsoft’s perceived Midas touch. As a result, though the company’s stock remains stable at $195.98 at press time, there are indications that the overall perceived value of the company itself has received a great boost. This has therefore increased the worth of LinkedIn to investors. This drew the positive attention of investors back to LinkedIn and the corporate social media sector at large. It pulled in a $976 million revenue in its first full quarter after the acquisition and $1.3 billion in the second quarter. However, just after two full quarters under the administrative roof of Microsoft, LinkedIn moved from being Microsoft’s most expensive deal ever to one of its fastest-growing businesses. One of the reasons commonly adduced for this point of view is that the professional social media sector had lost considerable market share over the last fiscal year, leading to investors withdrawing 44% of their funds from LinkedIn’s market capitalization only months before the acquisition took place. ![]() When the Microsoft acquisition deal was announced, the perception among many analysts, including Forbes’ contributor Peter Cohan, was that the investment was ill-considered and a waste of money. After opening up its first revenue-making operations – job listings and subscriptions – in 2005, LinkedIn began to turn in profit and by 2011, the company became a publicly listed company on the New York Stock Exchange. The site’s initial growth rate was slow, starting with a modest 20 sign-ups. The social network which was initially conceived in co-founder Reid Hoffman’s living room in 2002 was officially launched on May 5th, 2003. As widely reported, this is also Microsoft’s biggest buy ever. At this cost, Microsoft was paying a whopping $196 per LinkedIn share which, in turn, represented a 50% premium over LinkedIn’s last closing price on the floor of NYSE. Microsoft acquired LinkedIn at a cost of $26.2 billion in December 2016. LinkedIn’s Intriguing Beginnings Before Success Learn how much LinkedIn is worth and how the platform makes money for its owners. These and other commendable growth indices are the reasons many have been asking questions about LinkedIn’s net worth. It also boasts of 15,000 employees in its 33 global offices, including its headquarters in Sunnyvale, California. After attaining the one-million subscribers’ milestone in two years, and the ten-million subscribers’ milestone in five years, the platform now boasts of over 630 million subscribers in 200 countries. ![]() From a largely unknown brand at its foundation in December 2002, the service has grown into a colossus of sorts. The professionally themed social networking platform has come a long, long way.
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