Microsoft Set To Buy LinkedIn for $26 Billion

New Delhi: The multi-billionaire USA-based tech company will buy professional networking website LinkedIn for $26 billion. It is the biggest-ever deal by Microsoft, a bold step undertaken by its CEO Satya Nadella. Nadella’s march to acquire LinkedIn showcases his efforts to make the software company ‘a major force in the next generation computing.’ The increased sales of business and email software also cannot be denied by Microsoft, said reports.

Following the news of merger of two high-profile companies, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella held a press conference and asserted that ‘both LinkedIn and Microsoft share the mission of helping people more efficiently.’ “There is no better way to realize that mission than to connect the world's professionals,” he said in the conference. Nadella also noted that despite of the merger, LinkedIn ‘would retain its distinct brand, culture and independence’.

On the other hand, Microsoft will get access to more than 430 million members worldwide following the biggest deal in Nadella’s era from Microsoft. “That's a valuable asset that can be deeply integrated with a number of Microsoft assets such as Office 365, Exchange and Outlook. That said, Microsoft has stated that the company will continue to operate as an independent business, so we'll have to see how deeply the integration occurs,” said Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight.