LinkedIn is one of the largest professional networking platforms in the world, with over 850 million members as of 2022. But who actually runs and operates this massive social media site? LinkedIn is currently owned by Microsoft, after being acquired in 2016 for a staggering $26.2 billion. However, day-to-day operations and strategic decisions are overseen by LinkedIn’s CEO and management team.
LinkedIn’s Current CEO
LinkedIn’s current CEO is Ryan Roslansky, who took over the top role in 2020 after serving as senior vice president of product. Roslansky has been with LinkedIn since 2011 and has helped drive a lot of the company’s product strategy and development over the last decade. Some key initiatives under Roslansky’s leadership include expanding LinkedIn’s hiring, marketing, and learning products, as well as boosting content sharing and video on the platform.
Here are some quick facts about Ryan Roslansky:
– Age: 43 years old
– Education: BA in Rhetoric from University of California, Berkeley
– Previous experience: Various product and engineering roles at Yahoo! and Mozilla
– Time at LinkedIn: Joined LinkedIn in 2011, named CEO in 2020
LinkedIn’s Management Team
While Roslansky leads LinkedIn from the CEO seat, he relies on a seasoned executive team to manage departments across the company. Here are some of the key senior leaders at LinkedIn:
Kathryn Prasad – Chief Operating Officer
– Oversees LinkedIn’s business operations, sales, marketing, talent, and corporate development teams
– Former partner at venture capital firm Battery Ventures
Kiran Prasad – Chief Financial Officer
– Manages LinkedIn’s finance, accounting, investor relations, and internal audit functions
– Previously held finance roles at TripAdvisor and Amazon
Tomer Cohen – Chief Product Officer
– Leads LinkedIn’s product and engineering teams
– Former head of product for mobile apps at eBay
Teuila Hanson – Chief Legal Officer
– Responsible for LinkedIn’s legal, compliance, security, and regulatory matters
– Previous general counsel roles at Electronic Arts and Juniper Networks
This experienced leadership squad complements Roslansky’s product and engineering background with expertise in operations, legal, finance, and people management across global technology companies.
LinkedIn’s Board of Directors
While LinkedIn’s management oversees day-to-day business, the company’s strategic direction is governed by a board of directors. As a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary, LinkedIn’s board members all have connections to Microsoft:
Satya Nadella – Chairman. CEO of Microsoft
Kathleen Hogan – Executive Vice President of Microsoft Human Resources
Margaret Johnson – Executive Vice President of Microsoft Business Development
Kevin Scott – Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft
Having Microsoft executives on LinkedIn’s board provides tight alignment and oversight between the two companies. However, some experts argue that LinkedIn could benefit from adding directors with backgrounds outside Microsoft.
LinkedIn’s Ownership Structure
LinkedIn was publicly traded from 2011 up until its acquisition by Microsoft in 2016. Microsoft purchased LinkedIn for $26.2 billion, making it the company’s largest acquisition to date. This gave Microsoft full ownership of LinkedIn.
Here is a breakdown of LinkedIn’s current ownership structure:
Owner | Ownership Stake |
---|---|
Microsoft Corporation | 100% |
By acquiring LinkedIn entirely, Microsoft has full control over the professional networking platform and has integrated it deeply into its ecosystem of business software and services. Microsoft has left LinkedIn’s brand and operations largely intact while providing the resources to continue enhancing its products and reach.
The Evolution of LinkedIn’s Leadership
While LinkedIn’s leadership is firmly in Microsoft’s hands today, the professional networking company has been run by various executives since its founding in 2003. Here is an overview of LinkedIn’s leadership timeline over the years:
2003: Founded by Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue, Konstantin Guericke, Eric Ly, and Jean-Luc Vaillant
2004: Hoffman named CEO
2007: Dan Nye replaces Hoffman as CEO
2008: Hoffman returns as CEO
2009: Jeff Weiner joins LinkedIn as president
2011: LinkedIn goes public
2014: Weiner promoted to CEO role
2016: Microsoft acquires LinkedIn
2020: Ryan Roslansky becomes CEO
LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman maintained an active leadership position for many years, including multiple CEO stints. But he gradually handed over control – first to an outside hire in Dan Nye, then to Jeff Weiner once LinkedIn filed for an IPO. Weiner managed LinkedIn through its public company phase until Microsoft took over in 2016.
How Does LinkedIn’s Structure Compare to Other Tech Companies?
Compared to other large technology companies, LinkedIn has a relatively simple leadership and ownership structure in 2022. As a fully-owned subsidiary of Microsoft, oversight comes directly from Microsoft’s senior leadership.
In contrast, here is how other major tech players are structured:
Meta (Facebook): Publicly traded. Led by founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Alphabet (Google): Publicly traded. Led by CEO Sundar Pichai. Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepped back from operations but control majority of voting shares.
Amazon: Publicly traded. Led by founder and CEO Andy Jassy. Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO but remains influential as executive chair.
Apple: Publicly traded. Led by CEO Tim Cook, who took over from late founder Steve Jobs.
The common theme is that even when founders like Zuckerberg or Brin/Page step back from daily management, they maintain significant control via board seats, voting power, and ongoing influence. But as a subsidiary, LinkedIn is now fully under Microsoft’s wing.
What Does This Mean for LinkedIn Users?
For LinkedIn members, the platform’s Microsoft ownership and leadership has a few implications:
– Tighter integration with Microsoft’s ecosystem – benefit for users on Office or Windows
– Resources to improve products, security, and customer service
– Promotion of Microsoft initiatives within LinkedIn (Teams, Learning, etc)
– Less variability if founder Reid Hoffman had retained control
Overall, most changes have been positive for users or neutral. LinkedIn’s core professional networking functionality remains the same while adding new features powered by Microsoft technology and AI capabilities.
However, critics argue that Microsoft will increasingly monetize LinkedIn’s vast user data; push Office and Windows bundles; and tamp down on dissent or controversial voices on the politically-sensitive platform. But so far, LinkedIn has maintained its distinctive brand and culture.
LinkedIn by the Numbers
Here are some key statistics illustrating LinkedIn’s current scale and user base under Microsoft’s leadership:
– 850+ million members worldwide
– 40% of members check LinkedIn daily
– 740+ million monthly active users
– 303 million monthly active users in Asia Pacific region
– 30 million companies have LinkedIn Company Pages
– 69% of B2B leads generated from organic LinkedIn activity
– 1.7 million job postings currently listed
– 15 million LinkedIn Learning users
– Top 3 countries by user count:
– USA: 159 million
– India: 76 million
– Brazil: 46 million
LinkedIn has continued its rapid membership growth since being acquired by Microsoft. It is the de facto professional social network around the world, with dominant reach across North America, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
LinkedIn Revenue and Profitability Under Microsoft
In addition to boosting its user base, LinkedIn has maintained strong – and growing – financial performance under Microsoft ownership:
Fiscal Year | Revenue | Net Income |
---|---|---|
2019 | $6.8 billion | $1.1 billion |
2020 | $7.5 billion | $1.1 billion |
2021 | $10.4 billion | $3.0 billion |
LinkedIn’s combination of recruiting tools, job ads, premium subscriptions, marketing services, and now Microsoft bundles has driven steady growth in annual sales and earnings.
Revenue is up over 50% from 2019 to 2021 under Microsoft’s leadership. And net income nearly tripled over the same period. These financials indicate that Microsoft has successfully accelerated LinkedIn’s business performance since acquiring it.
LinkedIn’s Outlook and Future Under Microsoft
Looking ahead, Microsoft seems intent on making further investments to expand LinkedIn’s capabilities and tie-ins with Microsoft 365 cloud services.
In 2021, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated a goal of “LinkedIn from Microsoft” becoming the “world’s essential professional platform.” Some areas of focus he cited included enhancing LinkedIn’s social feed, creator tools, and personalized recommendations using AI.
Other recent and future developments for LinkedIn include:
– Tighter Microsoft Teams integration
– Promoting video content creation
– Launching a ‘Stories’ feature
– Expanding e-learning resources
– Enhancing Sales Navigator and CRM tools
– Adding new subscription bundles and enterprise offerings
While some experts worry Microsoft could try fully merging LinkedIn into 365 or Dynamics, so far LinkedIn has retained its distinct identity and platform. Staying the top professional social network while enhancing monetization seems to be Microsoft’s LinkedIn strategy into the future.
Conclusion
LinkedIn has firmly established itself as the world’s top professional networking platform under the ownership and leadership of Microsoft since 2016. With Microsoft’s resources and scale, LinkedIn continues expanding its membership, economic performance, and product capabilities.
Yet at the same time, LinkedIn has maintained the brand, culture, and functionality that made it successful as a startup and public company. While Microsoft exerts significant influence, LinkedIn’s management team remains focused on serving working professionals’ needs in the modern employment landscape.
Going forward, tightening Microsoft integrations while boosting content, subscriptions, and career tools appear to be LinkedIn’s top priorities under its current leadership. With Microsoft’s financial backing and operational support, LinkedIn is positioned to keep growing and engaging professionals worldwide for years to come.