LinkedIn

Service audience

2022: Active audience of 716 million people

2016:433 million registered, 6 million from Russia

According to the fall of 2016, more than 433 million people are registered on LinkedIn; six million - from Russia.

Leading consultant of the HR company Spice IT Recruitment Mark Kandaurov, in an interview with Medusa, explained that almost all recruiters and HR specialists in Russia use LinkedIn. According to him, most often their resumes are posted on LinkedIn by specialists from development, engineering (oil industry), IT specialists, employees of audit and financial companies. According to Kandaurov, these are mainly people from large cities - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk. They are focused not only on the Russian, but also on the international market.

The closest alternatives to LinkedIn are Facebook and the HeadHunter site, but on FB, profiles are usually not full enough, and on HH there are resumes of only those who are actively looking for work.

As of June 2016, the number of registered users of LinkedIn exceeds 443 million, which is 19% more than a year earlier. 60% of social network participants use it using mobile devices.

2011: App audience - 100 million users

Performance indicators

2015: Revenue $3 billion, loss - $166 million

In 2015, LinkedIn raised almost $3 billion against $2.2 billion in 2014. Annual net losses jumped more than 10 times, amounting to $166.1 million.

History

2021

Shutdown in China

In mid-October 2021, the LinkedIn service will close the local version of its service in China, which marks a significant retreat of one of the few large American technology companies still operating in this country. Microsoft-owned career networking platform made such a decision due to significantly more difficult working conditions and increased compliance requirements in China.

Instead, Microsoft will launch a new platform called InJobs at the end of 2021. The InJobs platform will be available, for China only, and will not include a social feed or the ability to share posts or articles, but will simply serve as a portal for posting ads and applying for jobs.

While we have been successful in helping Chinese users find jobs and economic opportunities, we have not achieved the same level of success in the more social aspects of sharing and informing. We understood that the operation of a localized version of LinkedIn in China would mean compliance with the requirements of the Chinese government regarding Internet platforms, "said LinkedIn Senior Vice President for Technical Affairs Mohak Shroff.

Working activities in China have always been difficult for private companies, but in 2020-2021, under Chinese President Xi Jinping, these restrictions were further tightened in all areas, especially for IT-Business. Large-scale regulatory measures since May 2021 have led to a decrease in the market value of the largest Chinese companies by about $3 trillion. In March 2021, LinkedIn suspended the registration of new users in China to ensure compliance with local legislation.

LinkedIn has been available in China since 2014. The presence of the service in the country, where it has more than 45 million users, is noteworthy because LinkedIn has lasted quite an impressive time, because many other Western social networks, including Facebook and Twitter, are blocked by the massive censorship apparatus of the Chinese government, known as the great firewall. ^[1]

Data breach of 700 million users

The data was put up for sale on June 22 at one of the hacker forums. The user who posted the post published a free introductory excerpt with a million entries^[2].

A forum user who published part of the database claims that he has information about 700 million LinkedIn users at his disposal. With about 756 million people currently registered on the social network, the leak potentially affects 92% of the platform's users. The seller claims that the database is formed from data collected using the LinkedIn API to collect information downloaded by users.

RestorePrivacy journalists checked the demonstration part of the base. For each user, the attackers had a decent dossier. The database contains an email address, full name, phone number, home address, geolocation, user name and profile URL, work history and accounts in other social networks.

Data breach of 500 million users

In early April 2021, hackers put up for sale data from 500 million users of the LinkedIn social network. The stolen information includes full usernames, phone numbers, email addresses and employment details.

According to Cyber ​ ​ News, the database for sale also contains LinkedIn profile identifiers and related URL links, links to user profiles on social networks. As evidence of the existence of this archive, the attackers published approximately 2 million records. The hackers estimated the entire existing database at a four-digit amount with an estimated payment of. to cryptocurrency bitcoin

We continue to explore this issue, but the published dataset appears to include publicly available information derived from LinkedIn, combined with data aggregated from other websites or companies. We are constantly working to protect our members and their data, "said a LinkedIn representative.

IntSights analyst Paul Prudhomme noted that the disclosed data is of great importance because attackers can use it to attack companies through employee information.

Such attacks may have a better chance of success due to the popularity of remote work and the increased use of home or personal devices for work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Prudhomme explained. - Attacks on companies through personal accounts and devices of their employees are one way for attackers to bypass the means of protecting the corporate network.

According to LinkedIn's own data, the service has 740 million users, so disclosing data on 500 million users means that the leak could be related to about two-thirds of the platform's user base.^[3]

Launch your organization to create Open Source mobile software development tools

In early March 2021, the Linux Foundation launched the Mobile Native Foundation, designed to encourage the creation of open source tools for mobile application development. Read more here.

2020

In the top 50 largest Internet sites in the world

Scribd buys SlideShare service from LinkedIn

The transaction is scheduled for September 24, 2020, the amount is not disclosed. SlideShare stores 40 million presentations and attracts 100 million visitors every month.

2019

LinkedIn user data in the public domain

On November 24, 2019, it became known that American security researcher Vinny Troia discovered an accessible one database containing more than 4 TB - information a total of 1.2 billion records, including from data the profiles of hundreds of millions of users, social networks Facebook Twitter LinkedIn and. Github More. here

The average salary is $157 thousand.

2017

Negotiations with Roskomnadzor ended in nothing

During the talks, LinkedIn representatives and officials from Roskomnadzor did not reach mutual understanding. The social network of trade unions will not work in Russia.

Eriel Ekstin, vice president of the company, said: "We met with Roskomnadzor in December to discuss the requirements of the law for localization. Despite our negotiations, we still have not found an understanding with Roskomnadzor that would unblock LinkedIn and allow us to provide the service to users from Russia again. This means that LinkedIn will still be blocked in Russia. " At the same time, he noted that the company did not violate Russian law and remains open for dialogue with Roskomnadzor

.

LinkedIn announced plans to return to Russia

LinkedIn, blocked on the Russian Internet at the suit of Roskomnadzor, plans to return to Russia, said Vice President and one of the founders of the social network Allen Blya^[4].

According to Blue, the company's management attaches great importance to working closely with the Russian government in the interests of resuming work in Russia. At the same time, the vice president of the network could not name the possible timing of unlocking LinkedIn in Russia.

2016

LinkedIn blocked in Russia

A network of professional contacts LinkedIn has been blocked in Russia. The court closed access to the service at the suit of Roskomnadzor: the department did not like the fact that the company still stores personal data of Russian users on servers located outside the Russian Federation. The regulator issued an order to block LinkedIn to providers on November 17. Blocking applies to both the site and the mobile application of the social network.

According to TNS, in August 2016, the Russian audience of LinkedIn amounted to 2.6 million users. LinkedIn itself estimated the number of registered Russians at 6 million people living in the country, and another 4 million abroad.

- First of all, blocking this resource will make it difficult for companies to find middle and top managers. Without LinkedIn, an employer who does not have a sufficient base of contacts and knowledge of specific professionals in the market will be much more difficult to look for the right people and more often will have to turn to the help of recruiters, "said Michael Germershausen, managing director of the recruiting company Antal Russia. In turn, a representative of the same company, Nadezhda Styazhkina, claims that it is too early to talk about the impact of blocking on the labor market - LinkedIn was only one of many tools for HR specialists, and not the most important^[5]

LinkedIn continues to make email mailings in an attempt to keep the audience alive. To use the social network from any device, you can bypass blocking, for example, through a VPN.

Access to the resource was closed due to a threat to national security, as it had the largest number of personal data leaks, the head of Roskomnadzor Alexander Zharov said in an interview with NTV. The official denied the version according to which LinkedIn is the first swallow on which Roskomnadzor is testing its methods, and then will take on serious social networks. "In fact, the reason was different. We drew attention to the fact that it was from the Linkedin social network that there was the largest number of personal data leaks, "Zharov said in an interview with the Pozdnyakov program of the NTV channel. The head of Roskomnadzor also said that in 2012 a similar precedent with LinkedIn had already arisen. Then the data of more than 170 thousand user accounts (contact information, email addresses) were in the public domain

.

Roskomnadzor never received information from LinkedIn about the localization of personal data of Russians on the territory of the Russian Federation. Zharov stressed that this is related to the level of national security. LinkedIn, according to the state official, is going to be determined by how they will comply with the terms of the Russian law "On Data Localization," only after the procedure for its sale to Microsoft is completed.

Do you want to block LinkedIn in Russia?

On October 25, it became known that the social network LinkedIn could be blocked in Russia. The Tagansky court ruled to restrict access to the site at the request of Roskomnadzor back in August; On November 10, the Moscow City Court will consider an appeal against this decision^[6][7]

The supervisory authority accuses the social network of violating the law "On Personal Data." In accordance with the amendments adopted in September 2015, all foreign companies working with personal data must transfer servers to the territory of Russia - so that the data of Russians are not stored outside the country. It was originally planned that the amendments would enter into force on September 1, 2016, but later the State Duma stopped at the date of September 1, 2015.

On October 26, 2016, a spokesman for Roskomnadzor [[[Ampelonsky Vadim|[Ampelonsky Vadim]]]] said that claims against LinkedIn were related to leaks of user data (in 2012, 117 million passwords of social network users were stolen; On October 19, 2016, a Russian hacker suspected of this was detained in Prague).

"This summer, we sent them two letters in pre-trial order with a request to provide information on their implementation of the law on the localization of personal data on the territory of the Russian Federation," Ampelonsky said. LinkedIn responded to the letters with "unsubscribes," he said.

LinkedIn, if blocked, may become the first social network banned on the territory of the Russian Federation in connection with the law "On Personal Data." At the same time, LinkedIn is not the only foreign company that has not complied with the requirements of the law. Facebook and Twitter also did not transfer their servers to Russian territory. But in October 2015, the popular Viber messenger did it.

Roskomnadzor has no complaints about the microblogging service Twitter and the social network Facebook, said the press secretary of the department Vadim Ampelonsky. This is reported by TASS. "We have an established dialogue with Facebook and Twitter on compliance with a number of laws, including the law on the localization of personal data databases," Ampelonsky told Kommersant FM radio station. He added that "so far everything suits us." As Ampelonsky said, Roskomnadzor checked not only LinkedIn, but also other companies operating in this sector, including SuperJob and HeadHunter. According to him, the department looked at how personal data is collected and processed.

If the LinkedIn site is still blocked, you will not be able to access it in the usual way using a regular Internet browser. As for the LinkedIn application, it will certainly not disappear from the AppStore or Google Play, but it is not known for sure whether it will work in Russia.

Minister of Communications and Mass Media Nikolai Nikiforov expects to identify a failure to comply with the law on the storage of personal data of Russians in Russia from other foreign companies following the LinkedIn social network. It is reported by RIA Novosti. "The law has come into force, its compliance will be checked more and more often regardless of what kind of company it is. These can be Russian companies, and foreign, "the agency quotes the words of the head of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications

.

Microsoft buys LinkedIn for $26 billion

On June 13, 2016 American , the manufacturer software Microsoft announced the purchase of LinkedIn for $26.2 billion.

The value of the transaction, which is planned to be closed in 2016, will be $196 per share of LinkedIn, which is 50% more compared to the quotes of the business social network by the close of the exchange on June 10, 2016. At the same time, Microsoft securities on the day of the announcement of the acquisition of LinkedIn fell 2.7%.

Microsoft will retain its independence and the LinkedIn brand. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner will remain in this post and report to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The deal was approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

The LinkedIn team has created a fantastic business focused on connecting professionals around the world, says Satya Nadella. - Together, we can accelerate the growth of LinkedIn, as well as Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics, as we strive to empower every person and organization on the planet.

According to Jeff Weiner in a letter to LinkedIn employees, he decided to sell the company in order to increase the volume of the business and get the opportunity to invest in promising projects without thinking about how this will affect the shares of the social network.

Experts interviewed by Bloomberg say the main goal Microsoft is pursuing by buying LinkedIn is to strengthen its cloud business.

I see in this deal a desire to take over someone else's territory. Cloud applications are where you can earn money, LinkedIn has several large cloud assets, says Sid Parakh, stock manager at Becker Capital Management.

Satya Nadella noted that the announced deal will combine Microsoft's professional cloud with LinkedIn's professional social network. By fiscal year 2018, sales of Microsoft's enterprise cloud products will reach $20 billion, and LinkedIn will be a key element in achieving this goal, the head of Microsoft said.^[8]

As a result of the merger of Microsoft and LinkedIn, the business social network will be closely integrated with Microsoft Office products, which will help users of the latter quickly exchange information. The LinkedIn news feed for Office users will become more personalized, displaying information about scheduled meetings that are in the process of executing projects, etc.

The platform for electronic formations LinkedIn Learning (based on Lynda.com, which LinkedIn bought in 2015 for $1.5 billion) will also work with Microsoft Office. This allows users who want to learn to perform complex tasks to enroll in training courses directly in the Office environment and gain online access to training information about the work of a particular function.

This interaction has huge potential, given that by June 2016, LinkedIn and Office have 433 million and 1.2 billion users, respectively.

Microsoft's digital assistant Cortana will have access to professional contacts on LinkedIn and, for example, will report on which school the person with whom the meeting is scheduled has graduated from.

According to analysts, Constellation Research, Microsoft needed information about human resources in the labor market and now has the opportunity to create any product focused on the business segment: from email enhancements to products that will help improve customer relationships and attract new professional employees.

In addition to Microsoft Office, LinkedIn services will be built into the enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management applications of Microsoft Dynamics. In particular, users of these Microsoft products will be able to connect to LinkedIn Sales Navigator, which helps sales professionals build contacts.

2014

In 2014, LinkedIn's revenue was $2.2 billion, up 45% from a year earlier. Net loss reached $16 million.

2013

In the top 20 Internet giants in terms of the size of the Internet audience

Audience of 277 million people per month

The net profit of the social network LinkedIn in 2013 amounted to 26.77 million dollars - 24% higher than in 2012. On a per-share basis, LinkedIn had full-year earnings of 0.23, up dollar from $0.19 in 2012. The annual revenue of the social network increased by 57% to 1.528 billion dollars.

The LinkedIn audience has 277 million monthly users, but the growth rate is declining. Mobile services of the social network are used by about 41% of account holders on LinkedIn.

2012: Revenue growth 86% to $972 million

The annual revenue of the business social network LinkedIn in 2012 increased by 86% to $972.3 million compared to $522.2 million in 2011. Profit increased from $98.7 million to $223 million, according to the company's report.

According to the results of the IV quarter of 2012, LinkedIn revenue increased by 81% year-on-year to $303.6 million, profit reached $11.5 million compared to $6.9 million a year earlier.

Revenue from recruitment services in the IV quarter increased by 90% to 161 million, from marketing services - by 68% to 83.2 million, from paid accounts - by 79% to 59.4 million.

LinkedIn beat forecasts for both quarterly revenue and earnings. Moreover, in terms of revenue, the company recorded a higher result in the seventh quarter to a number, notes. Reuters After the report was published during the extended trading session, the company's shares grew by 9% to $135 apiece.

In the first quarter of 2012, the company expected revenue in the range of $170-175 million and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $25-27 million. And according to the results of the entire 2012 - on revenue in the range of $840-860 million and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $155-165 million (in the IV quarter, adjusted EBITDA amounted to $34.4 million, according to the results of the entire year - $98.7 million).

2011

Revenue growth by 115% to $522 million

LinkedIn revenue in 2011 amounted to $522.2 million, compared to $243.1 million in 2010 (an increase of 115%). Profit reached $11.9 million from $15.4 million a year earlier, down 23%^[9]

IPO for $352 million

In January 2011, LinkedIn, which targets business customers, filed an initial offering (IPO) with the U.S. Federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The IPO was expected to bring the company about $175 million: investors are showing interest in social networks, including those that have not yet had time to reach the level of profitability.

A source close to LinkedIn believes that the company will conduct an additional issue ahead of the IPO, but the deal will be small. The funds raised will be used to intensify international expansion, he added. LinkedIn underwriters in the IPO process will be banksMorgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan Chase, Allen & Co and UBS are also involved in the transaction.

"The number of our registered users is noticeably higher than the number of real active users, and most web page views are generated by a minority of our users. Other companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter can develop their own competing solutions with us. In addition, we face competition from a number of smaller companies in the international market, such as Xing in Germany and Viadeo in France, "said the section of the report, where the company lists potential risks to investors (January 2011).

As of December 2010, the market value of LinkedIn was estimated in the secondary NYPPEX stock market at $1.575 billion, which is 13.4 times higher than predicted for 2011. EBITDA That is, in order to attract $175 million, the social network will need to place about 11%. But estimates of companies in the secondary market are usually underestimated.

In May 2011, during an IPO, LinkedIn listed 7.8 million of its shares at a price of $45 per share, which significantly exceeds analysts' expectations. In total, as part of the initial public offering, the company managed to raise $352.8 million. Earlier it was assumed that the shares of the social network will be traded at a price of $32- $35 per share. Thus, the estimate of the total value of LinkedIn increased to $4.5 billion, which, according to financial experts, is an impressive indicator for the company, especially considering that LinkedIn's profit in 2010 was only $15 million on revenues of $243 million. LinkedIn listed 4,827,804 of its shares. Another 3,012,196 securities were put up for sale by the shareholders of the social network. LinkedIn shares were listed on the exchange under the symbol LNKD.

Since its inception in 2003, LinkedIn has made two acquisitions, buying the startup mSpoke for $560,000 and the ChoiceVendor service for $3.9 million.

2010: First profitable year

In 2010, net income of the social network increased by $123 million or 102% to $243 million. Net income rose $19.4 million or 487% to $15.4 million. In fact, 2010 was the company's first profitable year.

The company received 42% of its revenues from paying for the use of various tools to find employees. Another 33% brought online advertising, and 25% - selling premium accounts to users.

• Revenues for the first nine months of 2010 doubled compared to the same period in 2009 and reached $161 million, profit for the same three quarters amounted to $1.9 million. True, it is expected that in the future the growth rate of revenues will decrease, and in 2011 the company will not be profitable.

In terms of financial indicators, LinkedIn is significantly inferior to the world's largest social network Facebook, whose revenues in the first three quarters of 2010 amounted to $1.2 billion.

• 41% of revenues or $65.9 million during the first nine months of 2010 were revenues from solutions for finding and hiring employees on the site,
• 32% came thanks to online advertising,
• 27% - from paid subscriptions to the service^[10].

At the same time, the net profit from solutions for finding workers for the year increased by 178% or $42.2 million, say representatives of the social network.

As of December 2010, LinkedIn's market value was valued at $1.575 billion in the NYPPEX secondary share market, 13.4 times the 2011 EBITDA forecast.

2009: Loss of $3.9 million

In 2009, LinkedIn's net income was $120 million. 2009 LinkedIn ended with a loss of $3.9 million.

Notes