LinkedIn has become the top destination for professionals to network, search for jobs, connect with business contacts, and grow their careers. With over 830 million members as of 2022, LinkedIn dominates the professional social media landscape.
But how did LinkedIn become such a massive network? What were the key innovations and decisions that took LinkedIn from a small start-up in the early 2000s to the undisputed leader in professional networking it is today?
This article provides a complete history of LinkedIn, from its founding through major milestones like new product launches, acquisitions, public offerings, and more up to present-day LinkedIn under the ownership of Microsoft.
Founding LinkedIn and Gaining Early Traction: 2003-2004
LinkedIn traces its origins back to co-founder Reid Hoffman in 2002. Hoffman was an early executive at PayPal and saw major potential for a social network aimed specifically at career and business connections, unlike friendship-focused sites like Friendster or MySpace that were emerging at the time.
Hoffman partnered with co-founders Jean-Luc Vaillant, Konstantin Guericke, Eric Ly, and Allen Blue to create LinkedIn, which officially launched on May 5, 2003.
The premise of allowing professionals to connect online resonated widely. Within the first year, LinkedIn hit one million members, far outpacing the early growth of other social networks. This signaled the massive opportunity for an exclusively professional-focused platform.
Introducing Premium Services and Job Listings: 2005-2009
In 2005, realizing the need to monetize the rapidly growing site, LinkedIn introduced premium subscriptions. Paying members could access more advanced search and messaging capabilities to manage their professional networks.
This move was key in creating revenue streams while also enhancing the platform‘s value with more robust tools for users. Premium subscriptions remain a vital part of LinkedIn‘s business model to this day.
Seeing an opportunity to increase relevance for LinkedIn‘s member base of career-minded professionals, the platform rolled out LinkedIn Jobs in 2008. Users could now search for relevant job openings in their industries and careers of interest.
With job hunting and career advancement core to most members‘ needs from the site, this significantly boosted user activity and time spent on the platform.
New Leadership Under Jeff Weiner Sets the Stage for Mega-Growth: 2009 Onwards
By 2009, LinkedIn hit a huge milestone, reaching 50 million members. However, to guide the company through its next level of exponential growth, executive decisions were made.
In 2009, Jeff Weiner was brought on as LinkedIn‘s CEO after previously serving on the board, while co-founder Reid Hoffman took the role of Chairman. This set the stage for major expansion under Weiner‘s leadership in the coming years.
Weiner invested heavily in technology infrastructure and personnel to improve LinkedIn‘s capabilities across mobile, international expansion, and serving enterprise-level companies. The results spoke for themselves, with LinkedIn reaching 100 million members by early 2011.
The Most Valuable Professional Network: LinkedIn Goes Public and Gets Acquired by Microsoft
In one of the most anticipated tech IPOs of 2011, LinkedIn went public on May 19, 2011. Shares were initially priced at $45 but closed the first day of trading at $94.25.
The company was valued at over $4.5 billion following the IPO. This demonstrated the market‘s confidence in the professional network and desire to invest in its future prospects.
Over the next five years, LinkedIn saw surging user growth (crossing 300 million members in early 2014) and strong financials. By 2016, LinkedIn was generating over $3 billion in annual revenue.
These figures caught the eye of Microsoft, who acquired LinkedIn in 2016 for a staggering $26.2 billion in cash, cementing its status as one of the most valuable networks.
Since Microsoft‘s purchase, LinkedIn has been deeply integrated across Microsoft‘s entire suite of enterprise software and services. This has allowed even stronger growth under Microsoft‘s leadership, expanding services for recruiters along with innovative offerings like LinkedIn Live video streaming.
As of 2022, LinkedIn now sits at over 830 million members, firmly establishing itself as the largest professional network globally.
Expanding Capabilities: Key LinkedIn Acquisitions Over the Years
In addition to strong organic growth, LinkedIn has consistently expanded its capabilities and value proposition to users through major strategic acquisitions:
- Rapportive (2012) – Tracking tool for Gmail that alerts users to social/contact info of email senders
- Pulse (2013) – Leading news reader app for mobile devices
- Lynda (2015) – Massive online learning platform with thousands of courses
- SlideShare (2012) – Top resource for uploading and sharing professional presentations/documents
- Glint (2018) – Leading provider of employee engagement/performance software
Each of these acquisitions tackled brand new areas to complement LinkedIn‘s services in networking, job seeking and recruiting. Features from acquired companies have been tightly integrated to increase user activity and the usefulness of the platform.
The Undisputed Leader in Professional Networking
While no platform is without critics or controversies, LinkedIn has established itself as a dominant force that almost every professional needs on their side to manage their online identity and grow their career.
Whether you’re actively pursuing new job opportunities, looking to elevate your industry expertise, or keeping your network warm in case career changes arise down the road, having a strong presence on LinkedIn is vital.
With Microsoft‘s backing and a proven track record of innovation, expect LinkedIn to keep adapting to connect professionals worldwide in new ways for years to come.
