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Company Brief
LinkedIn

by Faulkner Staff

Copyright 2022, Faulkner Information Services. All Rights Reserved.

Docid: 00021111

Publication Date: 2206

Report Type: VENDOR

Preview

LinkedIn is a Microsoft subsidiary that operates the largest
professional-targeted social network on the Internet. Today, the company has
over 830 million subscribers (2022) in 200 countries and in 24 languages. LinkedIn –
which fetched $27 billion for its acquisition in 2016 –
offers a
full service platform for
members to create, manage, and share a
professional identity online, as well as to engage with other
professionals,
access shared knowledge and insights, and locate business opportunities. LinkedIn
generates revenues through four operations: Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions,
Sales Solutions, and Learning Solutions. This brief takes a deeper look at LinkedIn’s
operations.

Report Contents:

• Fast Facts
• History
• Key Executives
• Major Products
• Major Competitors
• Recent Activity

Fast Facts

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Name: LinkedIn (a Microsoft subsidiary)
Headquarters
1000 W Maude Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA, 94805 US
(650) 687-3600
Web: http://www.linkedin.com
Type of Vendor: Business-Centric Social Networking Site
Founded: 2002
Service Areas: Global

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History

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LinkedIn offers a proprietary social
network platform that allows members to create, manage, and share their professional
identity online; build and engage with their professional network; access shared
knowledge and insights; and find business opportunities. LinkedIn has a “diverse business model” with
revenues generated by membership subscriptions, advertising sales, and talent
solutions. As it stands, LinkedIn is one of four core product / service
offerings within Microsoft’s Productivity and Business Processes segment.
Particular areas within this segment include:

• LinkedIn – Including Talent Solutions, Learning Solutions,
  Marketing Solutions, Sales Solutions, and Premium Subscriptions.
• Office Commercial – Including Office 365 subscriptions; the
  Office 365 portion of Microsoft 365 Commercial subscriptions; and Office
  licensed on-premise, comprising Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft
  Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, and Skype for Business, and
  related Client Access Licenses (CALs).
• Office Consumer – Encompassing Microsoft 365 Consumer
  subscriptions and Office licensed on-premise, as well as Office Consumer
  Services, including Skype, Outlook.com, and OneDrive.
• Dynamics Business Solutions – Such as Dynamics 365 and comprising
  intelligent, cloud-based applications across ERP, CRM, and Customer Data
  Platform; low-code application platform and automation solutions; and
  on-premise ERP and CRM applications.

LinkedIn was founded on May 5, 2003, although technically
the company was established six months prior by Reid Hoffman with the help of
co-founders Jean-Luc Vaillant, Allen Blue, and Konstantin Guericke. Shortly after going live, LinkedIn received a round
of Series A funding from Sequoia Capital, which provided it with its first
liquid assets, followed by Greylock Partners. Other
investors over the years have included Bain Capital Ventures, Bessemer Venture
Partners, and the European Founders Fund.

Significant
items from LinkedIn’s history have included:

• 2003 – Launches its Web site.
• 2006-2009: Increases
  its membership from less than five million (2006) to 10 million (2007) to 20
  million (2008) to 40 million (2009).
• 2009 –
  Sees Jeff Weiner replace co-founder Reid Hoffman as CEO … Over time, Weiner
  authorizes the rollout of numerous international Web sites, mobile apps, and
  offices in Europe and Asia.
• 2011 –
  Offers its IPO at $45 per share … Surpasses MySpace to become third
  worldwide in terms of social network subscribers.
• 2012 – Reports that a number of member passwords have
  been stolen and accounts compromised, forcing it to
  temporarily disable affected handles. LinkedIn later reveals that 6.5
  million passwords had been posted on a “hacker site” but that many of the passwords had been
  “hashed,” meaning that they would be difficult for a third party
  to decode and abuse … Acquires SlideShare for $119 million, giving it
  access to a technology for sharing slides from programs such as PowerPoint
  and other presentation software without requiring third-party applications.
• 2013 – Acquires Pulse, a RSS reader app developer for mobile devices, for $90
  million … Introduces the “Sponsored Updates” ad platform as well
  as the “Intro” service for adding user profile pictures to
  correspondences.
• 2014 –
  Acquires job-matching engine Bright for $120 million.
• 2015 – Names new Managing Directors for the EMEA and Asia Pacific
  regions: John Herlihy and Olivier Legrand.
• 2016 – Is acquired by Microsoft for $26.2 billion late
  in December.
• 2017 – Rolls out its redesigned Web site, which was developed to
  make it more consistent with the LinkedIn mobile app, in addition to
  offering other features to remove clutter, make it more intuitive, and focus
  on best connecting users and information.
• 2018 – Opens a new office – its first in the US in 10
  years – in Detroit, Michigan.
• 2019 – Purchases Drawbridge to expand its Marketing Solutions
  offering.
• 2020 – Transitions Ryan Roslansky to CEO seat,
  replacing Jeff Weiner, who became Executive Chairman … Discloses plans to
  cut 960 employees (6 percent of its workforce).
• 2021 – Names Dan Shapero as the company’s first-ever COO … Benefitting
  from a strong job market and high employee mobility in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the
  company reports it has nearly 800 million users and confirmed hires through the platform
  increased by 160 percent year-over-year.
• 2022 – Acquires Oribi, an Israeli marketing analytics firm, and opens an office in Tel
  Aviv … Enters into a conciliation agreement with the US Department of Labor to resolve
  allegations of gender-based pay discrimination.

Key Executives

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Following Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn, Co-Founder and Executive
Chairman, Reid Hoffman, was reassigned to Microsoft’s Board of Directors. The
unit’s top execs now include:

• CEO – Ryan Roslansky
• Senior Vice President and Chief Product Officer – Tomer Cohen
• Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer – Teuila Hanson
• Senior Vice President and General Counsel – Blake Lawit
• Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer – Melissa Selcher
• Senior Vice President and COO – Dan Shapero
• Senior Vice President and Head of Engineering – Mohak Shroff
• Senior Vice President and CFO – James Chuong

Major Products

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LinkedIn offers a social networking service that is
designed to make professionals more productive and successful, to
connect talent with business opportunities; and to create economic opportunity
for every member of the global workforce. To date, its focus has been to
develop products that allow its members to create, manage, and share their
professional identities online, engage with their
professional networks, access shared knowledge and business insights, and find
business opportunities. In particular, the company leads a diversified business with revenues it
pulls in from membership subscriptions, advertising sales, and recruitment
solutions. Its principal services, both free and monetized, include offerings to
help hire, market, sell, and learn.

LinkedIn’s portfolio of products and services are listed in Table 1.

Major Competitors

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LinkedIn faces competition from online recruiting companies,
talent-management firms, and larger organizations that focus on talent
management and HR services. Other potential – albeit lower-level competitors –
include job boards, traditional recruiting firms, companies that provide
learning and development products and services, and traditional social networks.
LinkedIn’s Marketing
Solutions, in particular, also competes with online and offline outlets that
generate revenue from advertisers and marketers.

Google: https://careers.google.com/
Indeed: https://www.indeed.com/
Jobcase: https://www.jobcase.com/
Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/
Monster: https://www.monster.com/
Opportunity: https://www.myopportunity.com/
PandoLogic: https://pandologic.com/
Zip Recruiter: https://www.ziprecruiter.com/

Recent Activity

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Recent LinkedIn activity has included:

• June 2022 – Announces new initiatives for business-to-business
  marketing, including B2B Edge for consulting and long term brand building, and LinkedIn
  Business Manager to centrally manage people and accounts to improve marketing at scale
  and campaign optimization.
• May 2022 – Enters into a conciliation agreement with the US Department
  of Labor to resolve allegations of gender-based pay discrimination. Under the agreement,
  LinkedIn will pay $1.8 million in back wages and interest to the 686 affected female workers
  in the engineering and marketing groups, conduct staff training to ensure compliance with
  non-discriminatory obligations, and evaluate over three years whether the company’s
  compensation is gender-neutral and make adjustments if not.
• April 2022 – Reports 34 percent year-over-year revenue growth and more
  than 830 million members on the platform. Confirmed hires increased 88 percent.
• February 2022 – Files a federal lawsuit against a Singapore company for
  the unauthorized scraping of millions of member profiles. Mantheos Ptd. Ltd. and its founders
  are accused of using a network of hundreds of fake accounts and falsified virtual debit cards
  to gather the profile data. In May, Mantheos agrees to permanently delete all scraped profiles,
  destroy all software used in the operation, and stop accessing LinkedIn profile data through
  scraping or other automated means … In a subsidiary reshuffle, Glint, a platform that helps
  companies attract, develop, engage, and retain employees, will move from LinkedIn to Microsoft
  Viva. Viva is an employee experience platform (EXP) that brings together work communications,
  knowledge, learning, resources, and insights … Acquires Oribi, and Israeli-based marketing
  analytics firm; as part of the agreement, LinkedIn will open an office in Tel Aviv.
• January 2022 – LinkedIn continues to report strong growth, with a 37
  percent jump in revenue. Market Solutions grew 43 percent year-over-year and Microsoft
  reported “better-than-expected performance” in Talent Solutions resulting from a strong
  job market.
• December 2021 – Launches InCareer, a new jobs app designed to help
  Chinese mainland professionals find jobs and allow companies to discover new talent in
  China.
• October 2021 – Benefiting from the “Great Reshuffle” in the global
  labor market, LinkedIn reports a 42 percent increase in year-over-year revenue and total
  members reaching nearly 800 million. Confirmed hires through the platform increased more
  than 160 percent year-over-year and ad revenue was up by 61 percent.
• August 2021 – Extends the suspension of new members signups in China
  (implemented in March 2021) “to ensure we remain in compliance with local law.”
• July 2021 – Announces that since being acquired by Microsoft five years
  earlier, revenue has nearly tripled, hitting $10 billion, with year-over-year growth of 27
  percent.
• June 2021 – Partners with Discord, Facebook, Google, Reddit, and others on
  the Digital Trust and Safety Partnership, aiming to develop industry best practices to
  ensure the safety of user data.

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