3 ms·
This is a fantastic move for Microsoft, and IMO, a premature throwing-in-the-towel moment for LinkedIn. At $26B, that's less than 10% of Facebook's market-cap.
by whack 10y ago
This is a fantastic move for Microsoft, and IMO, a premature throwing-in-the-towel moment for LinkedIn. At $26B, that's less than 10% of Facebook's market-cap. That's a steal for the world's biggest Social-Professional Network, and the medium through which most recruiting could conceivably happen in the future. Given that MS currently has no social presence at all, but has a fantastic enterprise sales channel, LinkedIn is a great asset for them.
The idea of going to physical career fairs in thousands of colleges around the country, and collecting/handing out paper resumes just to make the connections happen, always seemed like a woefully inefficient way of connecting job seekers with employers. In the future, this process is going to become more and more digital, and networks like LinkedIn are going to become vital hubs in this new wave. If Microsoft can find a way to accelerate and monetize this trend, this acquisition could well be one of the best deals of the decade.
- Theo59 10y agoMS does have a 1-2% stake in Facebook lest we forget
- whack 10y agoMS having a 2% stake in FB is like Yahoo buyings its stake in AliBaba. Yes, it's a great financial investment for MS and they are going to make a lot of money from it. But there's no way FB is going to allow itself to get integrated into MS core services, just because of a 2% stake.
- c_c_c 10y agoLinkedIn at 10% of Facebook's cap is super over valued. It's pure spam. Everyone is suggesting Microsoft will improve, add features! It would have been better and cheaper to create from scratch. LinkedIn exists in a space that none of the big player care to enter seriously.
- askafriend 10y agoIt would not have been cheaper to create from scratch, certainly not in a reasonable amount of time. You're truly underestimating just how sticky a product like LinkedIn really is.