LinkedIn CEO - LinkedIn and Microsoft: Changing the Way the World Works

"Given our ability to operate independently, little is expected to change: You'll have the same title, the same manager, and the same role you currently have. The one exception: For those members of the team whose jobs are entirely focused on maintaining LinkedIn's status as a publicly traded company, we'll be helping you find your next play."

If that's what it sounds like, that's the most carefully worded version of "you're fired" I've ever seen.

From the article: "For LinkedIn, it was to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful, and for Microsoft it was to empower every individual and organization in the world to achieve more. "

Microsoft's mission statement sounds like the same meaningless fluff they've been going on about since Nadella took charge.

$26 billion is a nice amount, even for MS, it gives me pause to think about what they really intend to do and how they could abuse LinkedIn user information, a veritable treasure trove of deeply personal and real information and people networks.

> combining these assets would be unique

> LinkedIn's graph interwoven throughout Outlook, Calendar, Active Directory, Office, Windows, Skype, Dynamics, Cortana, Bing and more

> LinkedIn’s full potential [...] within the enterprise [...] corporate directory, company news dissemination, collaboration

This is about owning the environment around microsoft's products, adding another dimension to lock-in.

1. People 2. Machine Learning 3. ???? 4. Profit!

That's one hell of a 26 billion dollar bet with Microsoft fronting all the risks, because I'm sure MS could build a better LinkedIn from scratch if they created a department with a 26 billion dollar budget.