Based on Microsoft's multi-billion acquisition of Nokia, this could be great news for the shareholders of Apple and Google.
1
So Microsoft paid 26 billion for a souped up bulletin board! I am a medical professional bombarded with linked in and other copycat requests for me to link up with others that I either have never met or with others that I really don't see any clear reason to communicate with. I have always suspected that the sole motivation of all this "linking" is to buff this company up so some fat cash cow company hoping to grow their bottom line will snatch the bait. And wow they landed the really big fish. Meanwhile Windows 10 is not the breakout hit, their early beta of a method to track and integrate action video on say a go pro is nowhere in sight , their smart phone languishes etc etc. I guess the next insult is when the Ceo does a Carly Fiorini and runs for higher office after further decimating this important American company whose well being the northwest depends on. I could do a better job running this company and I don't know squat.
2
I can hardly wait for the $multi-billion (more than $10B?) writedown of goodwill.
Sayin'
Sayin'
4
Microsoft needs to get back to basics. Cloud computing is awesome, but they're better off investing those billions in their Employees so that their services run smoothly. Recruitment and retention. Bill needs to go back before his company falls off a cliff. *sigh* There are things I like about Microsoft's recent moves (the one OS principal for example) and there are things I hate (this).
2
The comments section on this article not leading me to conclude that Linked In is useless (which it clearly isn't), or that this is a bad acquisition for MS (which it probably isn't). And that the Comments Section of the NY Times is full of disgruntled, non-professional, amateur digital analysts who are the "target demographic" of neither Linked In, Microsoft, nor, for that matter, the New York Times. Sheesh.
Now if only Microsoft could find a way to prevent Edge from deleting all of my favorites every 2 weeks.....
Gee, they didn't tell me this was coming. I wonder what the names of all the insiders are. It just goes to show how screwed up the stock market is for the majority of Americans.
1
This is certainly a big M&A and it is nice to see Linkedin being given a certain amount of freedom rather than being absorbed completely, did not work well with Skype! Also read about Nadella's communication to MS employees encouraging them to create Linkedin accounts. I am wondering how comfortable MS employees on Linkedin are about using that portal for their next job hunt!
4
Awesome. Maybe the fellows in the photograph can buy some shirts that fit.
2
"This deal is about bringing together the "professional cloud"and "professional network".....and their "interconnections", 4oo million Linkedin users and their personal and business e-mail addresses(conservative estimate of 10 each) ,This scheme becomes a 4 billion human brain data bank,ready for mining or human engineering,for the corporotocracy of international capitalism and the military-industrial complex.The bias and conditioning of these future involuntary "social engineers", is easily accomplished through job offers ,grants,research projects and contractually required loyalty and confidentiality.Bill Gates insane investment of billions,in toxic,self destructive,and dead end nuclear technology and his worship of(potentially life destructive) genetic modification of plant and animal life,will have be enthusiastically supported by the chosen of this vast field of job hungry Linkedin "candidates".A Facebook type site for Linkedin, professional techies is also planned.Groupthink lives organized from cradle to grave,this is the PROMISE AND COMFORT of a Brave New World!
In my experience Linked In has been useless professionally (FB much better by a mile) and has allowed for massive breaches of privacy. But I'm not surprised Microsoft values it so highly: think of how many of us were fooled into joining. Now Microsoft owns our names, professional histories, and connections.
5
Another dreadful acquisition by Microsoft. LinkedIn does not make money, it loses money. Their EBITDA accounting is a sham designed to hide their stock based compensation which eats up all their profits. But what does MS get for $26.2b? Not much that I can see. Synchronicity? Please. I'll take actual profits any day. Add this on top of the disaster that was the Nokia purchase and you've got a $26.2 B potential write down coming. Glad I no longer own MS stock.
1
Well looks like I'd better close my LinkedIn account. Microsoft hasn't met a product they couldn't run into the ground yet. They destroyed the Skype community (no plugins or games, no platforms other than Microsoft), and I really don't want my personal information in Microsoft's hands. Their OS clearly shows they have no interest or expertise in cyber security and knowing them the next move will be to try and push everyone onto Microsoft proprietary (and very restrictive) products only.
5
Hmm. Microsoft is paying about $27 per "member". Bernie received an average donation of $27 per feel the burn "member." Coincidence or is it the market rate for all of us. Where is my cut of the $27.00?
I am burned out and will be LinkedOut.
I am burned out and will be LinkedOut.
3
Yeah, I don't get it either. I'm not a media or M&A analyst, so maybe I'm missing something. I don't understand how investing in a social network geared to professionals -- whether or not it is effective -- is going to help Microsoft make even more money. But anyone with a LinkedIn account who works for Microsoft should probably delete their accounts, lest the country know more about them than it should.
1
Oops: replace "country" with "company".
Is there just no way to avoid the giant tech companies insidious invasion of our privacy? Snowden screamed about the government, but it is really these unregulated monsters capturing our data that we should be most worried about. As one writer stated, Microsoft destroys every entrepreneurial start-up it touches: remember how we once liked Skype?
I for one wish for the old days of the uncommercial net. I will NEVER buy anything from Microsoft, Google or anyone else who incessantly markets me as they nose through my email.
I for one wish for the old days of the uncommercial net. I will NEVER buy anything from Microsoft, Google or anyone else who incessantly markets me as they nose through my email.
8
LinkedIn and SPAM for me are one and the same. I get rid of these emails the moment they hit my computer. I'm curious how Microsoft will clean up this mess - perhaps another $26.2 Billion would be a start.
2
I hope MS realizes how most professionals view LinkedIn. When free it was a cute novelty that was fun to "play" in. Most commenters either have agendas or in fact are looking for a job as a Manager of Social networking or a contributor. Once the charges started it became painfully aware it is nothing but a chat site or a yellow page for viewing who is out there and "maybe" and honest description of their job or vocation. The associated cost to belong to the Premier version is way overpriced for information generated by the subjects themselves. Bottom line its yet another place for your employees to waste your time and money.
8
My tip is that the passage of time will prove this to have been a really lousy deal.
2
Bill, please come back. I beg you.
4
You gotta be kidding me. LinkedIn is such an annoying site. I made the mistake of signing up for it years ago. Now I get useless and bothersome emails all the time from people wanting to link up with me. What a big waste of time. I ignore everything they ever send me. Go away! I wonder why Microsoft thinks this is a good company. Clearly Bill Gates was not involved in this decision.
2
Linkedin:
2012 -- 6.5 million passwords owned by the Russian mob.
2016 -- 117 million passwords and emails leaked.
And now MS joins in the fun. Surely the security will get better.
2012 -- 6.5 million passwords owned by the Russian mob.
2016 -- 117 million passwords and emails leaked.
And now MS joins in the fun. Surely the security will get better.
2
I absolutely don't get it. Linkd In is the most useless click bait site I have ever had the misfortune to be a part of. Good luck unsubscribing once they have their claws in you.
4
LinkedIn is about as scammy as a supposedly 'professional' website gets. Thank god I figured them out in the few nanoseconds I tried signing up three years ago- and knew almost immediately something wasn't quite right when my PC speed was slowed to a virtual crawl. I ran for my life and never looked back. Ugh.
10
I wondered why I was starting to see requests to follow people on branded.me, which bills itself as "The next generation platform for professionals". Perhaps now I know why.
1
Ah, and how much of the info in those "resumes" is bogus? One "entrepreneur" on the site with a well a well crafted, glowing and somewhat believable at first read profile is in fact a late 30s-something body builder living at home with his mother. So much for business professionals.
7
The valuation of this company is out of site for a company that has a revenue
of 3 billion and lost money last year. almost 27 Billion?....Incredible!!!
of 3 billion and lost money last year. almost 27 Billion?....Incredible!!!
5
Agree with @Eben, this purchase driven by product only, more specifically the Office cloud. We can expect LI Premium subscriptions to loosen-up considerably, get bundled with O365, eventually showing up in dashboards, Office apps and the like.
Financially the deal makes no sense whatsoever. You can tell from the look on their faces, Nadella unsure, Weiner almost smirking, trying very hard not to pump fist in the air. The timing too very awkward, lame effort by Nadella to divert attention from the news of Siri's new Mac hangout. Score one for Apple there.
So yes, most of the $26b will end up as goodwill, or more accurately, a compulsive, obsessive crush. Mr. Weiner and others at LI should land wet slurpy kisses on Mr. Nadella's head, if not already.
Financially the deal makes no sense whatsoever. You can tell from the look on their faces, Nadella unsure, Weiner almost smirking, trying very hard not to pump fist in the air. The timing too very awkward, lame effort by Nadella to divert attention from the news of Siri's new Mac hangout. Score one for Apple there.
So yes, most of the $26b will end up as goodwill, or more accurately, a compulsive, obsessive crush. Mr. Weiner and others at LI should land wet slurpy kisses on Mr. Nadella's head, if not already.
4
This is a disaster.
Few people use LinkedIn for making serious business connections. People waste time linking up because others are doing it and sending out invitations to LinkIn, but for most users, it has no real utility and simply isn't used.
Besides the unearned profit for LinkedIn's owners and advisers, the only positive thing to come out of this disasterous waste of money by Microsoft is that business schools across America will have reams of material for students to analyze to try to explain why otherwise smart people repeatedly make such dumb decisions to throw away huge amounts of money with no realistic posibility of a profit. This deal could be called "Nokia Cubed." What will make it worse is the huge fees to be paid by Microsoft to legions of lawyers for the inevitable litigation that will arise from such poor decision making at the expense of all the shareholders.
One more deal like this and Microsoft will be in bankruptcy and the stock will be worth nothing. Bill and Melinda Gates' net worth will nose dive. Look at what happened to Polaroid when it couldn't adapt to a changing market, and its leadership had no vision. Seems like that $26.2 Billion could have been better spent on their core business to finally get all the bugs out of MSFT's software.
Few people use LinkedIn for making serious business connections. People waste time linking up because others are doing it and sending out invitations to LinkIn, but for most users, it has no real utility and simply isn't used.
Besides the unearned profit for LinkedIn's owners and advisers, the only positive thing to come out of this disasterous waste of money by Microsoft is that business schools across America will have reams of material for students to analyze to try to explain why otherwise smart people repeatedly make such dumb decisions to throw away huge amounts of money with no realistic posibility of a profit. This deal could be called "Nokia Cubed." What will make it worse is the huge fees to be paid by Microsoft to legions of lawyers for the inevitable litigation that will arise from such poor decision making at the expense of all the shareholders.
One more deal like this and Microsoft will be in bankruptcy and the stock will be worth nothing. Bill and Melinda Gates' net worth will nose dive. Look at what happened to Polaroid when it couldn't adapt to a changing market, and its leadership had no vision. Seems like that $26.2 Billion could have been better spent on their core business to finally get all the bugs out of MSFT's software.
8
You hit the nail on the head. Microsoft and the other tech companies are panicking--the easy money has stopped. Microsoft really has no idea what to do.
The future legal fees from this acquisition are where the money's at.
The future legal fees from this acquisition are where the money's at.
LinkedIn started to creep me out several years ago when it wanted me to link to an ex-landlady who worked as a realtor in another state who I had to take to small claims court to get my deposit back. HOW did LinkedIn come to associate this person with me? After that, if I logged into the site, I logged out and immediately deleted cookies, etc. The point is, I can't believe people spend much time at all on LinkedIn. I'm shocked Microsoft is making this purchase. Does the CEO of Microsoft use the site? Hasn't his experience been similarly negative?
4
This is like Apple paying billions for Beats. Mind-boggling. These aquisitions - especially the glorified spam site, LinkedIn - will be "written off" in a few years... but in the memeantime the main players in this quaisi-legal heist will make hundreds of millions.
6
Watch diabetes "care" companies buy up startups with promising cures. This is microphage behavior, plus they get the data.
Which one was the shill?
3
The preposterous price being paid by Microsoft for LinkedIn, a make-believe company if there ever was one, is surely going to be one of the last warnings the powers-that-be in Washington are going to receive of the imminent collapse of the American economy unless a quick end is put to the business of overvaluing technology companies by insane amounts, leaving shareholders holding an empty bag while management walks away with an overflowing one.
5
What is worrisome is hackers' attacks twice on LinkedIn? Cannot it be prevented? If such a site is not safe from hackers,one can imagine the fate of an ordinary user. The news has come as a surprise. How Microsoft will earn its revenue? It seems that it has acquired another brand. LinkedIn has been growing in India.
2
Another company which too much money than sense.
4
The wounds of Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia have barely scabbed over and their next big move is to acquire LinkedIn. Shocking.
4
A lot of people posting comments think this is a bad move for Microsoft. Many more think LinkedIn is on its way out. I guess many of these folks are simply not paying attention. Many businesses have moved their entire HR processes onto LinkedIn... In fact, it's a trend! Clearly Microsoft is interested in mining data, but for many folks, it's a great professional networking tool. For those of you who don't know how to use it, I can see why you think it's useless. But I assure you, for the highly educated it has its utilitarian value.
3
You are absolutely right. The value and network offered by LinkedIn is immense. Those who can unlock the maze of so many things offered in this platform can do many things just by sitting at home. For others, I do not have anything to say.
1
All about the data.
6
The major IT players are all in a huge race, not for product dominance, but for data about us. The acquisition of LinkedIn has nothing to do with its value as a social network or business, it's about the data is has accumulated on millions of business professionals.
One of the least popular "features" of Windows 10 is known as "telemetry" -- sending to Microsoft all manner of information about your use of Windows. This is couched in terms of product improvement or services, but what it's really about is collecting information about what you do -- what you type, what your search for.
All the major players (Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Facebook) really aren't in the product or services business for consumers but for the data they can gather about us -- what we search for, what we buy, who we know.
In many ways, Microsoft is the most insidious, pushing their customers into the cloud where their previously private data can be scanned, collated and organized to used to sell us as a product to other people. Those that have chosen to keep data out of the cloud still lose out when their desktop operating system phones this data home anyway. LinkedIn is just one more piece of this data puzzle.
One of the least popular "features" of Windows 10 is known as "telemetry" -- sending to Microsoft all manner of information about your use of Windows. This is couched in terms of product improvement or services, but what it's really about is collecting information about what you do -- what you type, what your search for.
All the major players (Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Facebook) really aren't in the product or services business for consumers but for the data they can gather about us -- what we search for, what we buy, who we know.
In many ways, Microsoft is the most insidious, pushing their customers into the cloud where their previously private data can be scanned, collated and organized to used to sell us as a product to other people. Those that have chosen to keep data out of the cloud still lose out when their desktop operating system phones this data home anyway. LinkedIn is just one more piece of this data puzzle.
8
Well Microsoft has been pretty clear on the fact that it will permit a better integration with Office 365... I believe that says it all.
1
Personally, I find LinkedIn rather useless. I refuse to pay their highway robbery prices for the premium membership ($47 a month, come on) to see who has been viewing my profile. Seems like a waste of 26 billion dollars to me.
8
Yeah that's kind of true. I'm not too familiar with LinkedIn from an investor's perspective but I've for sometime that they've been loosing money so this valuation is kind unworldly especially that it beats the one of Whats App. I'll start checking them out and how things goes from now.
I've used LinkedIn for sometime but it's true that from a pure professional perspective it does not fulfill all it's potential IMO.
I've used LinkedIn for sometime but it's true that from a pure professional perspective it does not fulfill all it's potential IMO.
1
The white cells of Microsoft's immune system are at the ready. This LinkedIn virus shall die.
5
26 billion for a corporation that makes no money and shows no signs of making any money. A fact that is covered up with dodgy accounting standards. Presumably Microsoft know what they're doing but after the Nokia experience one wonders.
7
Buying an app or buying data? The latter?
9
Weird. No one I know takes it seriously. It was amusing at first but a major annoyance since.
9
Skype...Nokia...and now LinkedIn...anyone see a pattern here? All I see is destruction of shareholder value.
10
Never ceases to amaze me how MS lurches from one bad move to another.
No in-house creativity? So buy up losers to show revenues. What about profitability?
No in-house creativity? So buy up losers to show revenues. What about profitability?
10
After looking into most of the comments this confirms why the readers are employees and why they will always beg for money (a job) throughout their life.
None of them ever thought LinkedIn from the company's point of view. It's easy to analyze LinkedIn's information one by one but analyzing it as an aggregator is a different value proposition. Also even though if there is no growth in absolute terms there is inherent value where the old resume needs to be replaced by a latest one and hence a recurring revenue model same like renting homes..
People are not crazy to value it at 26 bill unless they already know the proposition of new revenue generation.
So relax go back to your mundane life and be happy to be in a higher income tax bracket (middle class educated bracket) and contribute most of your wealth to the government 'Cos you always will make money off of somebody else's business...
None of them ever thought LinkedIn from the company's point of view. It's easy to analyze LinkedIn's information one by one but analyzing it as an aggregator is a different value proposition. Also even though if there is no growth in absolute terms there is inherent value where the old resume needs to be replaced by a latest one and hence a recurring revenue model same like renting homes..
People are not crazy to value it at 26 bill unless they already know the proposition of new revenue generation.
So relax go back to your mundane life and be happy to be in a higher income tax bracket (middle class educated bracket) and contribute most of your wealth to the government 'Cos you always will make money off of somebody else's business...
1
Well, that's the end of Linked-In.
12
LinkedIn has proved of zero value, and I've had an account for over a decade. It seems useful perhaps if I ever go looking to change jobs, but it wasn't at all useful in hiring for a non-profit. We got completely useless resumes from it. As a "social" network (unrelated to business hiring): absolutely no value. It isn't fun. It isn't someplace you'd ever go to share things with non-work friends. I never go on the site. I mostly interact with them through a slough of annoying emails, that I eventually mark as spam. Now, I'll have to adjust my filters a bit if the spam will come from a microsoft.com domain instead.
If I worked from Microsoft, I'd be very upset that they had spent $26B on this, rather than increasing salaries and benefits.
If I worked from Microsoft, I'd be very upset that they had spent $26B on this, rather than increasing salaries and benefits.
21
Reid Hoffman has found a way to part fools from more money so that he can try to put his social engineering theories into practice. So long First Amendment! So long Great Society! As the share values of LinkedIn began to reflect the utter uselessness of the insecure "service" to anyone other than a lazy HR person trying to raid successful companies for good workers, Hoffman and his cabal have found a gullible and desperate CEO and board with excess cash in a fog of ennui. This is right out of the Steve Case playbook. Now beware as the money gets used to create more bubbles and slash more middle class privacy and workers' rights for the benefit of the Thielien ubermenschen. A bully while failing at Oxford, a bully now, this self-styled "thought leader" and "public intellectual" and his ilk are at the heart of America's half-arsed short cut economy. Is there a more worrying billionaire than Trump? As of today, yes there probably is again. Thanks Microsoft...you know Hoffmann is an Apple product, right?
8
Microsoft must have plans to turn LinkedIn Profiles into dashboards that not only allow users to find work, but to enable them to do work (e.g., sign contracts, manage them, communicate, collaborate, etc). LinkedIn wasn't able to do that alone, but if Microsoft does pull that off, this price will be easily justified.
7
Good grief I don't want Microsoft to know anything about me.
10
I have head of LinkedIn, if only because removing their buttons and logos is nearly impossible. I've never used their service or, as far as I know even joined. With or without the Microsoft purchase. LinkedIn and similar service are far too public for this private soul. (Don't feel bad, L-I, I do not use any of the others either, though FB did acquire my name some how.) as with the others, once they have your name, deleting the account simply cannot be done, a policy/practice that I detest. I have not need or desire to be that public about anything, so my electronic communications are limited to individually addressed email messages. Period. It is my age (65) or my quest for electronic privacy; I do not know. I have the computer skills necessary to use L-I and similar services, but I have never found any need to address more than one or two individuals with a single message (or, via TNYT, perhaps a million?) so the flat answer is No! No thanks! And No again. My electronic privacy is far too important to me. Even if it has become nearly impossible to control, the privacy thing remains important.
6
Maybe Microsoft will rewrite the truly atrocious race to the bottom privacy policy that LinkedIn has-- the main reason I avoid the site as much as possible, no matter how many friends want to connect to me.
The site concept is good, and the critical mass is there (although declining). The site execution and legal policy is deficient causing the hemorrhaging of mindshare-- with failed policies like these, keeping the dead hands of the LinkedIn c-suite in place seems like a mistake financially dwarfing the Nokia debacle.
The site concept is good, and the critical mass is there (although declining). The site execution and legal policy is deficient causing the hemorrhaging of mindshare-- with failed policies like these, keeping the dead hands of the LinkedIn c-suite in place seems like a mistake financially dwarfing the Nokia debacle.
11
Glad I shut my account down last week. I'm sure LinkedIn has it's uses, but it all seemed like a giant data-mining, chain letter-like operation. Good riddance. The bigger question is, when are we going to start making these hugely profitable companies start re-shoring all those billions that have stashed away?
16
I was actually starting to like Nadella. But overpaying for a failing business makes no sense to me. Time to short MSFT. An idiotic acquisition that will be compared to HP's acquisition of Compaq.
6
Bad move. Linkedin is already watered down and anyone posting their real resume there probably isn't the person you want to hire. Kind of like MySpace by the time they got bought out... over-used, unreliable, and not trusted. I trust a LinkedIn recruiter email about as much as a MySpace friend request... it could be legit, but I won't know without a face to face meeting. Yes in theory this works, until you realize that only a small fraction of Linkedin really does what MSFT wants to leverage it for. WAY overpaid. I read this works out to $247 per active user... HA! Good lord...
8
I read it was $65 per user - approximately 400 million users. But of course these numbers can be inflated.
Just imagine the good that Microsoft could have done with that money instead. They could have bought every American gun manufacturer and then shut them down. They could have hired every lobbyist in Washington D.C. and had them lobby for causes good for all the American people instead of less than 1 percent. They could have sponsored a grant program and given $1 million to 26,000 people and organizations with great ideas to make the world a better place and the ability to execute their ideas if they only had a budget. Instead they will eventually get the tax write-off because LinkedIn is nothing but a bad joke that's responsible for endless spam every time they get a new subscriber and steal the email addresses on their computer.
17
This really surprises me. LinkedIn is just not that great. I'm on it but rarely go there. What was MS thinking?
10
Fantastic sale. Shocking buy......
Just like the Start menu on my Windows 10 PC, value from this deal will soon disappear
Just like the Start menu on my Windows 10 PC, value from this deal will soon disappear
10
Goldman must be bundling tranches of tech to short. When the bottom drops out of this market it will make the dot com bust look like the warm up act.
9
Quite right ted. Actually, the tech bust has already started but so far is only a trickle. Tech companies suffer from an almost universal inability to make a profit.
1
Why in the world ? A waste of billions!
12
Microsoft is going to be bankrupt soon. They bought Nokia and now this? Seattle, be prepared!
6
Uh no. I think this is a bad deal, and that they over-paid by about 200%, but they will not be going broke anytime soon. MSFT has over $100B in cash. So how does a $26B buy bankrupt them?
1
don't worry 'bout Microsoft all of the "new economy" geniuses were predicting in '98 the wasting away of MSFT by 2002 due the open source revolution and "empowerment" of the individual by Linux etc...oops ! the infamous tech bubble burst first !
The world clearly can support more than one social network, and eventually
some one will figure out one that runs ad free and by subscription. That
company is not LinkedIN however. Users rarely engage it and the revenue
from recruiters, while clearly substantial, will never recoup this 29 billion
price. Microsoft shareholders get fleeced. LinkedIN and its insiders get
rich.
some one will figure out one that runs ad free and by subscription. That
company is not LinkedIN however. Users rarely engage it and the revenue
from recruiters, while clearly substantial, will never recoup this 29 billion
price. Microsoft shareholders get fleeced. LinkedIN and its insiders get
rich.
17
Things that cost less than Linkedin: The Hewlett-Packard Company ($22 billion), Marriot Hotels($16.8 B), 1/2 of Target ($19.7B) (think, they could take on Amazon), and on and on and on.
13
I am trying to understand what MSFT has bought and I just can't understand. I find LinkedIn avoidable, why should that change now? As for MSFT, I use only what I must and I wish I could use less.
9
The app can definitely be improved. There are a number of plays that Microsoft is uniquely positioned to offer those who are professionals.
1. Certifications from a market leader in software everyone uses
2. Cutting edge technology tools from Microsoft
3. Any project acquired by Microsoft gets to integrate with M$ knowledgbase
This is a professional networking ecosystem with an actual engine under the hood. What if Facebook had apps other than virtual farming?
1. Certifications from a market leader in software everyone uses
2. Cutting edge technology tools from Microsoft
3. Any project acquired by Microsoft gets to integrate with M$ knowledgbase
This is a professional networking ecosystem with an actual engine under the hood. What if Facebook had apps other than virtual farming?
3
You can already do 1. and 2. without MS buying LinkedIn. I don't understand what 3. means.
Thats bad. I may wipe my account. Big brother trackers increase after sales to Google or Microsoft.
12
I recollect other major acquisitions with great promises of upside.
ATT buying NCR ostensibly to make computers to compete with IBM, only to spin it off again
Of course MSFT buying Nokia ostensibly because it give them access to the "device" world
Google buying Motorola to revolutionize Mobile phones, but settled for patents and then sold it off.
MSFT buying Skype, oh, ok maybe that worked, it was cheap too
These are acquisitions of executives doing recreation shopping when they feel they are not getting attention.
Seriously, am I to believe that I'll get help when using excel from some IT guy who dropped his resume in LinkedIn, and pay. I'd just go to the web now and search around for a solution at no cost.
If LinkedIn was making all that money selling resume's why would they want to sell? And become part of the MSFT management entity. Won't work, hasn't worked before and they will leave after selling their stock in due course. And they will start up a competitor.
What a waste of shareholder wealth. And we think the Pentago is wasteful....
ATT buying NCR ostensibly to make computers to compete with IBM, only to spin it off again
Of course MSFT buying Nokia ostensibly because it give them access to the "device" world
Google buying Motorola to revolutionize Mobile phones, but settled for patents and then sold it off.
MSFT buying Skype, oh, ok maybe that worked, it was cheap too
These are acquisitions of executives doing recreation shopping when they feel they are not getting attention.
Seriously, am I to believe that I'll get help when using excel from some IT guy who dropped his resume in LinkedIn, and pay. I'd just go to the web now and search around for a solution at no cost.
If LinkedIn was making all that money selling resume's why would they want to sell? And become part of the MSFT management entity. Won't work, hasn't worked before and they will leave after selling their stock in due course. And they will start up a competitor.
What a waste of shareholder wealth. And we think the Pentago is wasteful....
9
LinkedIn unlike other social media sites does not allow members to close their accounts. (Yes, I know that Facebook makes it as hard as possible.) Surely, this is a plus for Microsoft so that they have a captive audience as well as a fortune of user data that they can parlay into other products. Like many people, we have used LinkedIn as an electronic résumé but it is not something most employers will even consider when applying. They want an actual cover letter and traditional résumé they can scan with a computer. I have never met anyone who was hired because of their LinkedIn profile but many who have been spammed. I think it is the best site for professional scammers and con men.
17
actually, i'm an advertising and event management freelancer and 90% of my jobs originate from linkedin- either i apply for a job via the site or an hr manager will contact me, it goes both ways.
i'm in the running for a full-time job right now that i found on linkedin. sounds like i'd better not leave it if i get it.
i'm in the running for a full-time job right now that i found on linkedin. sounds like i'd better not leave it if i get it.
LinkedIn is the most useless social network ever.
39
Couldn't disagree more. LinkedIn is extremely helpful if you need to recruit. Even if you don't sit within a recruiting function, as a manager with hiring responsibilities, it's a great database with a pretty good search tool. I also use it to contact people for short-term consulting work when I need to learn about a new company or industry.
3
Obit for Microsoft: The great company that once was. Nothing like *forgetting* which products made you great: Stop making products and purchase companies that create intangible *concepts* Wonder, ten years from now- who will purchase Microsoft and sell it bit-by-bit; The Chinese?
18
Another dumb purchase by Microsoft... like hotmail, and Nokia. The Board and the CEO have no idea on strategic acquisitions. To them, just print more shares.
11
FYI...Hotmail hasn't been Hotmail for about 5 years, it's Outlook. Further it was not a purchase, but a web mail service developed by Microsoft 20 years ago.
Hotmail was a purchase. In the '90s. Which they eventually ran to ground.
3
That's incorrect. MSFT bought Hotmail.
2
Linkedin has so many annoyances and flaws that are never fixed.
Too many photos of kids with cancer saying "Can I get 1 million likes to beat cancer" - when the originator of the post has nothing to do with the cancer sufferer. Too many useless articles by people who think they are writing something earth shattering. Too many sales people using photos of the military as a marketing tool to get likes and self publicize. Confusing alumni by not knowing the difference between schools with the same name but in different countries. It goes on and on. Just the other day and man posted a picture of his wife that had just died.....I felt bad for the man...but what the heck was it doing on Linkedin??
Too many photos of kids with cancer saying "Can I get 1 million likes to beat cancer" - when the originator of the post has nothing to do with the cancer sufferer. Too many useless articles by people who think they are writing something earth shattering. Too many sales people using photos of the military as a marketing tool to get likes and self publicize. Confusing alumni by not knowing the difference between schools with the same name but in different countries. It goes on and on. Just the other day and man posted a picture of his wife that had just died.....I felt bad for the man...but what the heck was it doing on Linkedin??
19
I don't get any of those on LinkedIn. The problem might be who you are connected to
1
I don't see the payoff for Microsoft in the long-term except for keeping a toehold in social media and keeping Facebook and Google at bay.
At 26B for 400M user, Microsoft is pay about $65 per user. Based on generating 30B in EBITDA and an enterprise value of 340B would imply that an investor needs about 9% per year to invest in Microsoft. At 9% and looking at each user as a potential perpetuity would imply that each would have to contribute about $6 to the bottom line. If you look at LinkedIn at the present day they have an EBITDA of 250M so each user is contributing about 60 cents in order for this deal to work each user will have to be 10 times more profitable. This is a little bit of a stretch, you can throw in some fancy growth numbers to make the math work but that is often where the trouble starts.
At 26B for 400M user, Microsoft is pay about $65 per user. Based on generating 30B in EBITDA and an enterprise value of 340B would imply that an investor needs about 9% per year to invest in Microsoft. At 9% and looking at each user as a potential perpetuity would imply that each would have to contribute about $6 to the bottom line. If you look at LinkedIn at the present day they have an EBITDA of 250M so each user is contributing about 60 cents in order for this deal to work each user will have to be 10 times more profitable. This is a little bit of a stretch, you can throw in some fancy growth numbers to make the math work but that is often where the trouble starts.
13
You may be on to something. Most professionals have a LinkedIn account; it can be useful. Now imagine a sub-account, "LinkedIn Social", or some better way of organizing your existing account. It's a good Trojan horse into social media.
A simpler way to making the same point: Microsoft valued LinkedIn at 100x EBITDA. That's nuts.
1
What a waste of good money. Now if they bring back the stupid ads with Jerry Seinfeld, you know the bad advisers, the bad advertisers are back and time to short MSFT big time. Atleast this is better than FB buying whatsapp for $20 billion.
5
Just when we were thinking Microsoft has a strategy, they do this
Combining Linkedin with Skype for Business and Office 365 would have to raise all kinds of privacy issues. Has anyone at MSFT thought this through?
(And I bet the board of Yahoo are not feeling so good right now)
Combining Linkedin with Skype for Business and Office 365 would have to raise all kinds of privacy issues. Has anyone at MSFT thought this through?
(And I bet the board of Yahoo are not feeling so good right now)
5
Reminds me of someone buying a goldmine that has been played out. Maybe just maybe if I dig deeper I will strike it rich.
12
Typical Microsoft acquisition: an organization sliding into old age thinks LinkedIn's happening. It's nothing but a recruiter's tool, and it's time has passed.
13
Good match, I say, Microsoft is socially blind and LinkedIn is a #resumemingle.
2
I am so reminded of the novel (soon to be movie) "The Circle", by David Eggers.
LinkedIn was a great idea that's gone awry. The company seems out of ideas for growth and has squandered much of its goodwill and usefulness over the past few years.
What was once a professionally-oriented site that fostered serious career-oriented networking and became a "gotta be here for my career" product has become a (rather poor) copy of Facebook. Members overshare useless non-career information, scammers frequently use it to attempt to trick others into allowing access to their contacts and personal data, there are newsworthy security breeches and the newsfeed is overwhelmed with information that's about 80% irrelevant.
In addition, the company struggles for growth and new ideas. It bombards users with 'upgrade options' that ask for serious cash in exchange for dubious usefulness. They bought the incredibly popular 'Pulse' news aggregator/app and integrated it into their site destroying it in the process. They allow anyone who draws a breath to publish articles as a LinkedIn 'influencer' (these constantly spam the newsfeed). It's become a throw-stuff-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks operation.
Microsoft has a lot of cash they need to deploy sitting on their balance sheet and LinkedIn's data has a lot of value. But they're seemingly overpaying for a site that's struggling and becoming more unpopular everyday. Monetizing that data doesn't feel like it'll cover a $26B spend. This act reminds me of when Murdoch bought MySpace: too much cash, too late to the game.
What was once a professionally-oriented site that fostered serious career-oriented networking and became a "gotta be here for my career" product has become a (rather poor) copy of Facebook. Members overshare useless non-career information, scammers frequently use it to attempt to trick others into allowing access to their contacts and personal data, there are newsworthy security breeches and the newsfeed is overwhelmed with information that's about 80% irrelevant.
In addition, the company struggles for growth and new ideas. It bombards users with 'upgrade options' that ask for serious cash in exchange for dubious usefulness. They bought the incredibly popular 'Pulse' news aggregator/app and integrated it into their site destroying it in the process. They allow anyone who draws a breath to publish articles as a LinkedIn 'influencer' (these constantly spam the newsfeed). It's become a throw-stuff-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks operation.
Microsoft has a lot of cash they need to deploy sitting on their balance sheet and LinkedIn's data has a lot of value. But they're seemingly overpaying for a site that's struggling and becoming more unpopular everyday. Monetizing that data doesn't feel like it'll cover a $26B spend. This act reminds me of when Murdoch bought MySpace: too much cash, too late to the game.
21
Yes, Microsoft has $100 billion of cash -- BUT the cash is off-shore. They can't use this cash to fund the deal without paying a 30 percent tax on its first. (That tax would be an earnings and cash hit.) So, Microsoft is actually borrowing to finance this deal. Microsoft has been borrowing for some time to fund share buybacks and dividends. They are starting to carry a lot of debt on their balance sheet. At some point, their external auditors (or the SEC) and/or rating agencies will take action: the auditors (or the SEC) should require that Microsoft book an earnings hit for the US tax on these foreign earnings and/or the rating agencies will downgrade Microsoft. Going from AAA to AA may not increase the borrowing cost much, but going further down the rating spectrum might.
3
So long Nadella.
8
Satya Nadella has reached his level of incompetence with his promotion and with this acquisition. He is Marissa Meyers without the eye-candy look.
There is no way LinkedIn can make money. I run a consulting company, and we have seen that LinkedIn resumes are phony-baloney stuff.
This is the equivalent of Marissa Meyer buying Tumblr.
PC is dying and so will Microsoft. And with it, LinkedIn.
There is no way LinkedIn can make money. I run a consulting company, and we have seen that LinkedIn resumes are phony-baloney stuff.
This is the equivalent of Marissa Meyer buying Tumblr.
PC is dying and so will Microsoft. And with it, LinkedIn.
21
First thing MS needs to do is make Linkedin less spammy.
5
Microsoft has a penchant for buying dead racehorses, doesn't it....LinkedIn, Nokia and skype, anyone? Dismal.
10
Don't forget Yammer, the $1.2 billion social media play that went nowhere. That was the brainchild of the current CFO of Microsoft. Does anyone actually know what Yammer does?
6
Classic Microsoft business decision. LinkedIn has served little purpose other than stumbling upon old colleagues you wouldn't have stayed in contact with under other circumstances. Another example of MS paying billions of dollars for chopped meat instead of filet mignon. LinkedIn must be tiptoeing quietly as too not wake up the sleeping giant.
12
The concept was nice, personal contacts and networking, to exchange ideas, find job leads and even help get a job. Now, Microsoft will do to LinkedId, what Oracle did to Sun; milked it for all it has, get a list of users they can market to and watch as people try to find a LinkedIn replacement.
Corporate America, no longer innovates, it eviscerates. Everything consolidating so there will be very few corporations left.
Fortunately, I am near the end of my career, and will have little sue fro LinkedIn.
Corporate America, no longer innovates, it eviscerates. Everything consolidating so there will be very few corporations left.
Fortunately, I am near the end of my career, and will have little sue fro LinkedIn.
13
So Nadella is following in the footsteps of Ballmer, wasting billions of dollars of Microsoft money by moving away from their core business?
Right out of the comedy 'Silicone Valley...
Right out of the comedy 'Silicone Valley...
29
Surely this has to be the mother of all crazy business deals, dot.com bubble included, don't they have a board checking theses things? Paying $65 per head for access to an address register is mind boggling. I check my Linkedin account 2-3 times per year when I want to get in touch with someone who has changed jobs email and telephone number sic!
If they had built their own business registry offering $30 Microsoft vouchers (possibly $10 cost for Microsoft) for anyone registering with "some qualifying" criteria they could have built their own business community with most likely twice the amount of users for 1/6 of the cost.
If they had built their own business registry offering $30 Microsoft vouchers (possibly $10 cost for Microsoft) for anyone registering with "some qualifying" criteria they could have built their own business community with most likely twice the amount of users for 1/6 of the cost.
17
The margin on their most popular products is around 90%. Those vouchers would cost literally nothing.
2
It's about the lifetime value of the user which is much higher than $65
My company does software training in a classroom environment. After persuading us to enter our client contacts into their network and spending money advertising our services to potential clients LinkedIn then purchased Lynda.com which is a major competitor in the corporate training space. What's wrong with this picture? We were lured under false pretenses into sharing our customer information with a corporation that became intent on competing with us, their customers rather than partnering with us which was their stated business proposition when we signed on.
Sleazy and deceptive business practices will be their legacy. The poetic justice will be when Micrsoft figures out what they've purchased and inherits the inevitable lawsuits from organizations such as ours.
Attorneys General please take note.
Sleazy and deceptive business practices will be their legacy. The poetic justice will be when Micrsoft figures out what they've purchased and inherits the inevitable lawsuits from organizations such as ours.
Attorneys General please take note.
27
Doesn't sound like they did anything unethical or illegal
It sounds as if it's time to depart LinkedIn - the last thing I want is even more interaction with Microsoft. They've already managed to obliterate my ability to print emails, not only with their increasingly awful Windows10, but previously with Windows 8.1. At least with the latter, it was a disabled print spooler issue, which could be remedied, despite the annoyance of having to deal with it every time I re-started the computer. This Windows10 issue is not so clear-cut, and drives me insane. I'm so inactive on LinkedIn anyway, the annual subscription fees aren't worth it.
14
$26 Billion for LinkedIn. What a waste of money and ressources. Why didn't Microsoft use that money for more R&D or invest in Start Ups with new ideas. I don't recall the last time I checked my LinkedIn account.
In 2 Years Microsoft will write off that Acquisition as it did all its previous ones.
In 2 Years Microsoft will write off that Acquisition as it did all its previous ones.
46
Or increase the dividend to stockholders, since MSFT apparently has money to burn.
Only Reid Hoffman benefits.
4
I will never use LinkedIn again.
29
OMG, why? I have two accounts at Linkedin (maybe more, who cares?) and I can't figure out how to delete them. I have people I barely know and, sometimes don't know, linked in. I get LinkedIn spam regularly and delete them. A worthless waste of time, I have real work to do. Just keep being the anti-Apple that makes all my platforms (Windows, Apple, Android) perform better.
35
Not that LinkedIn is all that great. But, it's doomed now. Microsoft can't do much of anything right. What they acquire, they kill.
36
Does Microsoft ever create anything on their own? This is their legacy. Get a monopoly going and then buy, buy, buy.
12
Then crush, kill, destroy.
10
3
LinkedIn is so ridiculously useless. This boggles the mind.
69
True, the LinkedIn service is a net negative to almost all of its users. Folly, folly and more folly.
7
If an open source version of linked in becomes popular, I think MS will get hammered. Already there are very good desktop OSs running linux that institutions and goverments are switching to. This means big licensing fee losses for MS.
I think the only reason MS bought LinkedIn is to add some functionality to their existing Office or other enterprise software. Alternatively, it will be integrated into the operating system.
I think the only reason MS bought LinkedIn is to add some functionality to their existing Office or other enterprise software. Alternatively, it will be integrated into the operating system.
2
If MS links linked in to Office 365, I'm going pure Linux.
1
Does that mean I don't have to pay $65 for my linkedin account?
5
NO no no! They need your 65 bucks to justify the stupid price they are paying!
7
Don't pay them as they are using your information for their gain.
2
I laffed hard when I saw that Nadella and Weiner have been talking "since February." That's when Linked's stock tanked on news that growth had tanked. Linked had sucked all the revenue it could out of lazy HR managers and desperate job hunters. I can see Weiner and Hoffman putting lipstick on the pig and praying it wouldn't smear off til they were able to dump it. Very surprised at Nadella, who's done a great job making Microsoft relevant again. But take note that LinkedIn is not a professional network -- it's just another job board, with 2/3 of its biz in selling seats to recruiters so they can spam job hunters. Indeed already owns that commodity space. Best Microsoft can do is cut the offer price by 75% (W & H will grab it) and add a resume button to Outlook, because that's all this is.
36
Microsoft buying LinkedIn is like Sony Music buying NAMM. This acquisition needs to be blocked by the FTC.
4
What an absolute joke.
A laughable purchase by Microsoft and a clear sign that
the inmates are running the asylum.
A laughable purchase by Microsoft and a clear sign that
the inmates are running the asylum.
52
MS has missed every major IT trend in the last 20 years. Amazon, Google, Salesforce, Facebook have all made monkeys of MS. They have to do SOMETHING. I guess this is it.
1
MSFT bought Nokia's phone business for $7.2 billion two years ago. Disaster. This is even dumber. What's next, Yahoo?
66
Actually, Microsoft paid +$9 billion when you factor in all side agreements. They probably injected another $2 billion to restructure and keep business running for two years after the acquisition. So, they probably ended losing $11 billion over two years on that deal
1
Microsoft should buy Britain if it leaves the eu. http://www.fundsandshares.co.uk/interesting/vote-leave-eu-ten-reasons-not/ it will probably cost less than LinkedIn.
51
Now, that's some honest-to-god good satire!
7
Ah, so now Microsoft's billions will back this useless site that would send me daily, dozens of "sure thing" corporate management job offers because of the skills listed in my profile...
...a profile that had nothing more than my name and, if I recall, the city where I live. I never professed to be a corporate (or any other type) and only signed on at the behest of my real estate agent. I have no idea WHY I did it. Then it took forever to divorce myself from this joke of a site.
If Microsoft wanted to throw away money, I'd have gladly taken some off their hands.
...a profile that had nothing more than my name and, if I recall, the city where I live. I never professed to be a corporate (or any other type) and only signed on at the behest of my real estate agent. I have no idea WHY I did it. Then it took forever to divorce myself from this joke of a site.
If Microsoft wanted to throw away money, I'd have gladly taken some off their hands.
56
I've been 'Linked In' for almost ten years... I'm 'Linkin Out' with this horror show. See ya Jeff Weiner!
23
I agree that it is a good time to SELL LinkedIN but paying $26.2B for a resume posting site seems a little steep. That said: I guess it's hard to value a company that doesn't make any profit.
39
This seems like a really bad idea. Maybe if Microsoft wasn't gradually laying off their US workforce in favor of cheap H1Bs and outsourcing they could come up with their own innovations like they used to.
58
There was a typo in the article. It said that Linked in was sold for $26.2 billion
98
Forest Gump describes this transaction: "Stupid is as stupid does."
B
B
28
I wonder how much they'll pay for Hooli.
44
I don't think Larry Ellison would sell.
1
I avoid Microsoft as much as I can. It's a good product, and usually necessary for your job, but they keep messing up with privacy and security and so many of their major updates to the "office" programs, and "windows," have been major fails.
So, now that Microspft will have access to everything LinkedIn -- probably 4 to 9 months from now, when this transaction closes ---I'm deleting my LinkedIn account -----Apple isn't perfect, and it's not as if I think that LinkedIn didn't share my data anyway, but Microsoft is the least trustworthy company as far as security, privacy, protection from viruses and information sharing.
Somebody needs to bring a better alternative to LinkedIn to the market, now.
So, now that Microspft will have access to everything LinkedIn -- probably 4 to 9 months from now, when this transaction closes ---I'm deleting my LinkedIn account -----Apple isn't perfect, and it's not as if I think that LinkedIn didn't share my data anyway, but Microsoft is the least trustworthy company as far as security, privacy, protection from viruses and information sharing.
Somebody needs to bring a better alternative to LinkedIn to the market, now.
6
As I write this, Linkedin's stock is up nearly 50%.
In typical aggressive fashion, Microsoft's attempt to grow their new acquisition will strip the platform of any charm it once had. LinkedIn it will go the way of Nokia, Skype and other "retail" oriented businesses. To legions of late boomers who came of age considering Microsoft as the original "evil", this might represent an opportunity to short sell LNKD.
In typical aggressive fashion, Microsoft's attempt to grow their new acquisition will strip the platform of any charm it once had. LinkedIn it will go the way of Nokia, Skype and other "retail" oriented businesses. To legions of late boomers who came of age considering Microsoft as the original "evil", this might represent an opportunity to short sell LNKD.
1
Well, of course the stock is up nearly 50%--to Microsoft's bid for the entire company! Any discount to the bid is for the time value of money.
Short LinkedIn? You must be joking. Or maybe you meant short Microsoft.
Short LinkedIn? You must be joking. Or maybe you meant short Microsoft.
2
You're right! Something is going to collapse!
Why does Jeff Weiner look annoyed, angry even, throughout this officially released PR video when he is instantly filthy rich? It is especially glaring when Nadalla is his usual happy happy self. I am surprised this video was released to the press with MR Grumpy Pants in full view.
5
Weiner has about as much vision as Marc Cenedella.
4
I thought Linked in was just a phishing site that sent me spam everyday claiming people I knew were asking me to join their top secret society...29 Billion??? I would rather own a company like Ford, or Con Ed.
This is stupidity on steroids.
This is stupidity on steroids.
112
Andrew, read my comment below for the answer. Linked is all over your web pages but you dont see it.
1
You can write that again.
2
Mistrust of Microsoft is an anachronism. 1997 called, and he wants his ham sandwich back. It's the wrong century.
Never a privacy scandal in Redmond, but Google on the other hand... I'd be willing to bet that those who mistrust Microsoft are both over 40 and use a Gmail account?
Never a privacy scandal in Redmond, but Google on the other hand... I'd be willing to bet that those who mistrust Microsoft are both over 40 and use a Gmail account?
1
Who says it's either one or the other?
Microsoft is foisting Windows 10 (now with even more data collection!) on the unsuspecting and indifferent, and Google has Google+. Those alone are great reasons to mistrust both.
Microsoft is foisting Windows 10 (now with even more data collection!) on the unsuspecting and indifferent, and Google has Google+. Those alone are great reasons to mistrust both.
6
Very well written and concise. I agree with the sentiment, but full disclosure: I am over 40, have a gmail acct., have never worked for MSFT, don't own any MSFT, and same goes for LinkedIn.
There's a hefty dose of snarking, trolling, sniping and griping in this tech gold rush in the Bay. It has gone from being a peaceable to a hostile place, in the 22 years I've lived here. Change is always hard. But, change is inevitable. And the snarks should to turn their energies toward positive endeavors.
Reminds me of the New Yorker cartoon, "On the Internet, no one knows you are a dog.", except it's now, "On the Internet, _everyone knows_ you are a snark."
And, with all this signal noise, no one listens to anyone anymore. E.g., Trump, Middle East, Tea Partiers, Dems/Reps, parents at kid's sports games, etc.
There's a hefty dose of snarking, trolling, sniping and griping in this tech gold rush in the Bay. It has gone from being a peaceable to a hostile place, in the 22 years I've lived here. Change is always hard. But, change is inevitable. And the snarks should to turn their energies toward positive endeavors.
Reminds me of the New Yorker cartoon, "On the Internet, no one knows you are a dog.", except it's now, "On the Internet, _everyone knows_ you are a snark."
And, with all this signal noise, no one listens to anyone anymore. E.g., Trump, Middle East, Tea Partiers, Dems/Reps, parents at kid's sports games, etc.
4
Run XP64. And use a pseudonym on Google.
linkedin, like google, amazon, and faceboook, runs under all major webpages collecting "anonymous" data which it then sells to others. Folks dont see these web tendrils so they wouldnt know. I work in IT. It is easy to look at the formatting of web pages, but few outside of IT will do that. And THAT is why MS sees linkedin as worth buying for billions of $$$
62
Now, this is something I agree with. And it's true, that unless you View Source and muck through the code, you will never know what you are giving away just by visiting a site. What about Duck Duck Go? Is it really a preventive of the web tendrils that suck your data?
4
K - Is this not true only if you log into LinkedIn and stay logged in while you surf? Like Facebook? I log out of both services when I'm done using them.
2
So why aren't they making tons of money already, if this giant $26B revenue source is already in place? Please explain Mr IT guy?
$26.2 billion! Did Ballmer get rehired?
11
Maybe they'll finally fix the software bug that indicates you have a new message when you don't. But I'm not holding my breath.
9
That’s not a bug, it's bait.
4
Two bad tastes in one! Mazel tov.
2
That anyone would think that the now-past-its-usefulness of that Linked group was worth more than pocket change is the news story.
It may (but probably wasn't) a factor before so many other forms of communication flourished.
The only think I got from Linked was spam and malware infested links.
I would assume MS knows what it is doing, but by purchasing this service, I'm not so sure any more.
It may (but probably wasn't) a factor before so many other forms of communication flourished.
The only think I got from Linked was spam and malware infested links.
I would assume MS knows what it is doing, but by purchasing this service, I'm not so sure any more.
3
I wouldn't bail on LinkedIn just because of this turn of events. MSFT is huge, but that's how things roll out here in the Bay, Silly Valley, and the rest of the Wild West on up to Bellevue and Seattle, probably Vancouver, Canada.
Tech companies start small, they get investment, they get bigger, a) sometimes they fail and vaporize, b) other times they get eaten by bigger tech companies that came before them, c) and other times they get big enough to be a shark on their own. E.g.: a) Pets.com, More.com, Buzzsaw.com, Industry Standard mag., etc., b) PeopleSoft, Sun, Siebel Systems, etc., c) APPL, ORCL, GOOG, MSFT, HP, INTC, etc.
One might argue that bigger is not better or more ethical or more customer-focused, but smaller isn't necessarily the opposite. It really all depends on the integrity and vision of the corporate leadership.
Tech companies start small, they get investment, they get bigger, a) sometimes they fail and vaporize, b) other times they get eaten by bigger tech companies that came before them, c) and other times they get big enough to be a shark on their own. E.g.: a) Pets.com, More.com, Buzzsaw.com, Industry Standard mag., etc., b) PeopleSoft, Sun, Siebel Systems, etc., c) APPL, ORCL, GOOG, MSFT, HP, INTC, etc.
One might argue that bigger is not better or more ethical or more customer-focused, but smaller isn't necessarily the opposite. It really all depends on the integrity and vision of the corporate leadership.
2
judging by Microsoft's track record with acquisitions, LinkedIn is doomed to fail. Need proof? Look at what happened to Nokia.
What's next? Google snapping up Twitter?
What's next? Google snapping up Twitter?
11
LinkedIn makes money? Oh wait, that's crazy talk, asking questions like that, isn't it?
25
I think they might have paid about $26 billion too much. Looks similar to one of Yahoo's "game-changing" acquisitions.
57
ANOTHER brilliant move in the history of high tech. For sure a company that is losing money )and shows little to no signs of being able to turn that around to any significant extent) should be valued at 26 billion. Imagine how much more LinkIn would have been worth if they could have figured out how to lose even MORE money. This is just insanity.
30
LinkedIn is actually not losing money. It's one of the few tech companies that's profitable.
2
Please reproduce the financials to show that.
3
earnings per share were -1.30 for the past year. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=LNKD
Perhaps your info is better than mine. Or you are the accountant who advised Microsoft. In what world is this company worth 26 billion, 200 per share, if they are either losing money or making microscopic amounts.
Perhaps your info is better than mine. Or you are the accountant who advised Microsoft. In what world is this company worth 26 billion, 200 per share, if they are either losing money or making microscopic amounts.
1
Will be closing my account on Lkdn - definitely do not want to be part of a Microsoft website.
10
Why would you have an account on Linked In?
5
LinkedIn is in their declining phase - users and paying customers (like me) are fleeing the site due to low user engagement, awful customer service and policies for paying customers, and product changes that make LinkedIn much less interesting for both candidates and recruiters alike. I have to give credit to LinkedIn management for seeing the bleak future and taking the money and running. Think about it - they sold the company for considerably less than 52 week highs, and are content to be a subsidiary of MSFT instead of an independent company. They must see a truly awful future to accept MSFT's offer.
84
Their union is a match made in criminal heaven--Microsoft, the Chief Flouter of DOJ orders and antitrust law, and LinkedIn, the Chief Spammer and Maintainer of the Not-What-You-Know employment culture that keeps qualified non-corporations out of jobs and bosses in their serfs' inboxes.
9
What's in it for me? There's currently a class-action suit against LinkedIn for disclosing member info, which has been delayed by the usual number of objections, motions, counter-suits, etc. Once it's settled, members may or may not get a small token payment, while of course lawyers will benefit greatly. And now Microsoft will obtain even more information about a new network of users than it already has. When you talk about the 1 percent, there are probably fewer than a dozen companies controlling or in possession of 90 percent of the information available about 90 percent of the people. Even going off the grid, you are fairly powerless to stop it.
7
Time to move out of this social network. I do not trust MS.
16
Wait. You didn't already distrust mass spammer-snooper LinkedIn? (Hint: "because my job makes me use it" is not trust, it's coercion.)
11
Alvero, linkedin sells your digital info: not new info that it does that....
3
For Gods sake, how much money can a huge enterprise waste at one time! Microsoft has been on the wrong track for years. Not just wrong track, but wrong train, wrong car! To spend that much money on a "business society" instrument, ("Hi, Jack, would you introduce me to the company President so my nephew can give him an idea"). Difficult to join. Difficult to work. Millions of people on board, no commercial goal. No profits, as yet! LinkedIn to what?????? [email protected]
5