Clearly, Weiner and LinkedIn’s board agreed, starting talks just after its troubled February report in which the company had lowered its forecasts. LinkedIn’s stock was down more than 43 percent since July of last year, and there wasn’t much reason to believe it would regain that value anytime soon. So why did LinkedIn sell, especially after CEO Jeff Weiner had long touted it as an independent entity? In the deal, which still has to receive the expected regulatory approvals, Microsoft paid $196 a share, a 50 percent premium on LinkedIn’s $131 closing price on Friday. If the Mark Zuckerberg-led company decided it wanted to take some of the jobs business away from its rival, it likely could easily enough.LinkedIn is now "Microsoft-owned LinkedIn," a distinction that cost Microsoft just a little north of $26 billion. LINKEDIN STOCK CRASH INTERVIEW FULLPeople may not have their full work history on the social media leader, but they generally have a lot of it, with their current and many past jobs listed. In the short term, LinkedIn seems like a safe, slow- to moderate-growth platform, but it's hard to get past the fact that Facebook could crush it if it wanted to. People are voluntarily attending one while they would skip out on the other if they could, and that leaves LinkedIn vulnerable. In some ways, Facebook is a cocktail party you were attending anyway, while LinkedIn is the semi-mandatory training you have to take or risk missing out on future opportunities. Sometimes the same may be true of Facebook, but the social media leader generally mixes pleasant interaction with family and friends with the occasionally networking opportunity. The problem - and this is personal feeling, not hard evidence - is that most people go to LinkedIn out of obligation, not for fun. While LinkedIn appears to have a solid business, it remains vulnerable to a push into jobs solutions from Facebook. "We enter 2016 with increased focus on core initiatives that will drive leverage across our portfolio of products." "Q4 was a strong quarter for LinkedIn, bringing to a close a successful year of growth and innovation against our long-term roadmap," said CEO Jeff Weiner in the Q4 earnings release. That segment increased by 22% year over year to $532 million for all of 2015. Premium Subscriptions also grew in Q4 by 19% to $144 million. Marketing Solutions, where about 50% of the revenue comes from sponsored posts, grew 20% year over year in Q4 to $183 million, and grew 28% to $581 million in 2015. Talent Solutions, essentially the company's hiring platform, which also includes its Learning & Development segment, grew 45% year over year in Q4 to $535 million, and jumped 41% $1.87 billion for the year.Here's how that broke down across the company's biggest business segments. In addition, in the fourth quarter of 2015, it saw overall revenue jump by 34% over Q4 2014, and the full-year number jumped 35% in 2015 to $2.99 billion. On the positive side, LinkedIn saw increases in revenue for its three major business areas in 2015. But, being the "Facebook for business" - which is never how the company has defined itself, but is how many see it - leaves LinkedIn vulnerable. Because it's not simply a competitor, but a more refined social media play with a specific focus, the company has carved out a niche. That has given LinkedIn more stability than most Facebook rivals. If you're a white-collar worker who hopes to network and may currently, or at some point in the future, be looking for a job, you pretty much have to be a member. LINKEDIN STOCK CRASH INTERVIEW PROFESSIONALIt's a site/service not just for people actively looking for work and for those hiring, but also for professional opportunities in a broader sense. LinkedIn has avoided that fate by carving out a position as a social media platform built around the employment market. LinkedIn offers social updates built around work.
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