There is
only one story this week in the social business world and that's the announcement that Microsoft is to acquire LinkedIn for the eye-watering sum of $26.2 billion.
And while some of were still waking up and reading that news, the blog posts and articles from various
pundits were hitting the web.
I've endeavoured to provide here a bit of a cross-section of views, some optimistic, some guardedly optimistic, none completely negative. I have however seen quite a few very negative comments on others' articles and some of my Facebook friends have been quite scathingly negative.
As the parties have to go through a fairly lengthy process of submitting their plans to regulatory authorities in various countries, it looks like being months before we can start to get a real sense of what the acquisition will mean for us LinkedIn users. Or, for that matter, for users of various Microsoft
products.
This article is of interest more for the fact that it quotes various pundits, both on the optimistic and pessimistic sides. It looks at the implications for Microsoft, for LinkedIn and for marketers.
Again, this is more a collection of opinions from experts than a detailed analysis. It's worth reading to get a range of insights from people who eat and sleep
LinkedIn.
Because the quotes are all so varied, I can't easily provide a useful synopsis.
Except this:
bullish.
In his usual entertaining but well observed style, Andy Brandt, the LinkedIn Curmudgeon himself, provides this synopsis of the first phase of this saga and some first "insider" reactions. Read this and you've probably got all you really need to know at this stage - unless of course you are one those who eats and sleeps
LinkedIn!
On Monday, Microsoft announced a deal to buy LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in cash, a premium price, but one that Microsoft can surely afford. Reactions from LinkedIn members and watchers, were mostly similar to that of LinkedIn expert, Viveka von
Rosen, who dashed off a quick headline, “Microsoft Just Bought LinkedIn… Holy Crap!”
Of all LinkedIn’s partners, employees of SlideShare, an online competitor to Microsoft’s PowerPoint, might need some extra meditation time to contemplate the future.
Jeff Weiner will remain CEO of LinkedIn, and LinkedIn reportedly will be an independent subsidiary of Microsoft. But in their joint announcement on CNBC, Satya Nadella looked excited and energized while Jeff looked more like his dog just died.
Did Microsoft overpay for LinkedIn? Jennifer Booton
Synopsis: Maybe, maybe
not.
One Unspoken Reason Behind the Microsoft-LinkedIn Deal
Andrew Ross Sorkin
Of course, someone had to come up with what some might call a sneaky aspect to all this.
That unspoken reason for the deal?
That would be the company’s struggling stock price and its reliance — some might say overreliance — on stock-based compensation.
Made sense to me. And it's the New York Times so it has to have some weight, doesn't it?
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